Today was our final business visit, and we traveled to Cary to visit Credit Suisse. Credit Suisse is a Swiss (hence the name) bank that specializes in private/investment banking as well as wealth management. Since I’m a sociology major, I’m really very uninformed about the topics of business and money management, so I apologize if this post blatantly shows my lack of financial knowledge. Personally, I feel that this was one of the most concise and engaging presentations – not only were the presenters concerned with keeping our attention and streamlining their information for a general collegiate audience, but they also split the class into groups for interactive activities as well as small and personalized tours of the facility.
Credit Suisse is a huge firm, employing 46,400 employees in over 50 countries. It was founded in 1856 in Zurich, Switzerland, and 40% of the company’s employees are based out of Switzerland today. In terms of a customer base, Credit Suisse provides personal services for over 2,000,000 private clients. The company is split into geographical divisions: Switzerland, the Americas, Asia Pacific, and Europe/Middle East/Africa. In addition to having regional headquarters for each of these divisions, there are specialized “Centers for Excellence” (CoE’s) that focus on support services as oppose to standard operations – across the country, these centers individually employ 14,000 workers. There is actually one in Raleigh, right up the road from the Cary facility we visited today. During our tour, we learned that the Cary facility was built in 2005 to help support the New York office after September 11 attacks wreaked temporary havoc on the American (and therefore global) economy. My guide actually informed us that this office could actually handle the entirety of the New York office’s responsibilities in a time of crisis, if need be.
Unfortunately, this is where my lack of financial knowledge prevents a fully adequate evaluation of Credit Suisse’s success. I’ve discussed their customer base, which obviously values safe and responsible handling of money along with accurate investing guidance. The company’s results are clear, as they are one of Switzerland’s largest banks and have a massive global presence. Their mission was never discussed in the presentation – as it is a for-profit company, I’m assuming that it is similar to that of most banks: wisely invest and manage money with the intent of staying one step ahead of competitors and changing markets.
One of the most interesting parts of the presentation was the company’s dedication to hiring and training new talent. More specifically, this included information about a 10-week internship dedicated to rising seniors as well as entry-level positions for graduates. This is all done with the intent of combining the thinking power of young minds along with the experience of veteran employees, a strategy that has led to success in all of the companies we’ve toured so far. We were even given a set of tips on how to successfully transition from college to the professional world, which is especially relevant to those of us that attend “Camp Elon.” This included: be professional at all times, learn to network, increase organizational skills, be open to change, and differentiate yourself somehow from peers with similar credentials. The office itself was very clean and professional, and was neatly arranged in a maze of cubicles and high-tech conference rooms. This is the company with the most security so far, as each student required a photo ID to even receive a visitor tag.
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