Finanztest

Finanztest

Finanztest (German magazine)
Editor-in-Chief	Hermann-Josef Tenhagen
Former editors	Hubertus Primus
Categories	Business, finance, consumer protection
Frequency	Monthly
Publisher	Stiftung Warentest, Berlin (Germany)
Total circulation (2010)	251,020 test.de – Auflagenzahlen Finanztest, 19 September 2010
Year founded	1991
Company	Stiftung Warentest
Country	Germany 52°30′15″N 13°21′12″E / 52.50417°N 13.35333°E / 52.50417; 13.35333
Based in	Berlin
Language	German
Website	www.finanztest.de
ISSN	0939-1614

Finanztest (originally FINANZtest) is a consumer magazine which focuses on providing objective information about financial services. Together with test it is one of the two main publications of Stiftung Warentest, the German foundation and consumer organisation.

Finanztest was first published in 1991. It has appeared monthly since 1997, and at the present time has a circulation of 251,000 copies per month. However, according to a survey by Allensbach, a well-known institute for public opinion research, each issue is actually read by 1.3 million readers. Approximately 205,000 copies are sold to subscribers and 46,000 at newsstands every month. The magazine is free of adverts in order to ensure that it is totally independent of manufacturer influence. Hermann-Josef Tenhagen has been the editor-in-chief since 1999.

There are five main thematic sections in the magazine: "Legal and Everyday Life Issues", "Investment and Provision for Retirement", "Home and Living", "Tax", "Health and Insurance". It publishes the results of investigations of financial services, for example insurance, investment products and loans, as well as advice about tax and legal issues. Every month there is an extensive section providing a comparison of interest rates for various savings products, shares and investment funds, as well as loans for buying property or a car.

In addition to the regular magazine, there are several special issues each year dealing in more detail with topics of particular interest. In the recent past these included financial advice for the self-employed, taking care of elderly parents, and maximising tax refunds. The Finanztest Yearbook with summaries of the year's investigations comes out every December. Details of all the investigations and reports can of course be downloaded, in part as a paid-for service. There are also product picker databases for investment funds and statutory health insurance that are continuously updated.

The published data and reports are based on the investigations of the financial and insurance products on the market which are carried out using scientific methods by the foundation's own staff. There was a total of 85 investigations in 2010.

Since more and more companies do not wish to be surveyed and refuse to provide the information requested, Stiftung Warentest now also evaluates databases and business reports, as well as relying on private providers as sources of data. In addition, specifically trained freelancers often act as customers. Mystery shoppers for example played an important role in testing out the investment advice services of banks (issue 08/2010) and the statutory health insurance providers (issue 09/2010).