What is their mission?
On today’s trip our class visited the Raleigh office of Credit Suisse, one of the leading investment banking and wealth management firms in the world. Credit Suisse was founded in 1856 in Zurich, Switzerland, where it is still headquartered today. At their Raleigh office, which they call a “Center of Excellence,” Credit Suisse supports the creation of leaner, more efficient business functions to better support its customers and clients. Credit Suisse’s mission in Raleigh “is to leverage geographic diversity and new sources of talent to create a cost effective global business support center that provides both operational and technological resiliency.” To carry out this mission in Raleigh, Credit Suisse employs nearly 1,400 employees, many of whom are younger, recent college graduates, which the company does on purpose to keep up high energy levels and enthusiasm when dealing with clients.
Who is their customer?
In the money management industry that Credit Suisse is in, there are two different types of banking, investment and private. Credit Suisse is mainly in the investment banking industry, which means most of its customers are large businesses and not wealthy individuals. It does however do some private banking with individuals who are considered to have high net worth value, which is a person who has assets over five million dollars. With offices spread across fifty different countries, Credit Suisse is able to serve numerous large businesses and wealthy individuals who are looking to receive the most tailored financial services they can find. Businesses in economic hotspots such as Tokyo, Hong Kong, New York City, and London all use Credit Suisse to manage their wealth.
What does their customer value?
The customers of Credit Suisse value the high levels responsibility and intelligence that Credit Suisse acts on when handling their clients’ money. Their customers know when they go to Credit Suisse to manage their wealth and investments that they are using one of the top banks in the world who is has been in existence for over 150 years. They also value the reputation of Credit Suisse, which has received numerous awards such as the top bank in Switzerland, being one of the most admired companies as rated by Forbes, and having excellent yield and return ratios. Credit Suisse came out of the 2008 recession much better than the other banks did and retained much of its assets, subsequently showing how they keep very good care of the assets their customers give them, which is another thing customers look at.
What are their results?
The results of Credit Suisse doing business for 150 years are remarkable. The bank now has 530 offices spread across fifty different countries and currently employs 46,400 employees. 38 of their offices are in Switzerland alone, where they were named the best bank by EuroMoney. Their total assets as of 2012 totaled $1,628 billion and all signs point towards that sum increasing over the next couple years. In addition, they have several other headquarters in the U.K. and New York City to help better manage their business. The Raleigh center alone has grown to 1,400 employees in just eight years since it was opened in 2005.
What is their plan?
While we did not learn much about what the plan is for Credit Suisse in the future because only CEO Brady Dougan really knows what their plans are, it can be assumed that they will continue to look to attract new clients and customers to do business with. They will continue to work to keep up their reputation as an excellent and reliable bank that clients can safely trust their money to, and will also look for new, non-traditional economic hotspots, where they can create new Centers of Excellence just like they did with their Raleigh facility. Most importantly, Credit Suisse will continue to do business with a customer first, client focused mentality because they know without their customers they would not be able to do business at all.
Follow
