Today we visited one of Credit Suisse’s offices in Raleigh. The office is one of Credit Suisse’s 5 COEs, or Centers of Excellence. After being founded in 1856, Credit Suisse is composed of two primary divisions or functions: private banking and wealth management. They have 530 offices in 50 countries, filled by approximately 46,000 employees, with 1,200 located in the Raleigh Center of Excellence, which opened in 2005. Of these employees, approximately 40% are located in the home market (Switzerland), and approximately 24% are located in the Americas.
What is Credit Suisse’s mission? Throughout the presentation, it was refreshing that no one showed the class a generic or formulaic mission statement or slogan. From what I inferred from the presentation and conversations, I believe that Credit Suisse’s mission within the financial sector is to foster loyalty among existing clients while expanding its business further (2 COEs opened in India, as well as business in Brazil). I would add that they have a very strong emphasis on going about their business within all financial regulations, globally and domestically (we spoke about the Basel 3 being a liaison between international trade/financial regulations).
Who is Credit Suisse’s customer? Unlike many of the businesses that we have previously visited, Credit Suisse’s clients are composed of both organizations as well as private individuals. While there are different divisions that are charged with taking care of corporate accounts or personal/private investments of individuals, we were told that many of their “high net worth” clients are often somewhere in between a personal client and a corporate client, because they are usually somewhat financially invested in their respective organization. Statistically, Credit Suisse has over 2 million private clients and over 1 million corporate clients currently. Internationally, the focus changes as well to adapt to different client demographics (US focuses on local market, Switzerland on private banking).
What does the customer value from Credit Suisse’s services? When I look at my personal “brand equity” or perception of Credit Suisse, even within its own financial sector, I associate it with reliability, consistency, and reputability. Besides Switzerland being known for its private investments sector, Credit Suisse is perceived, at least among my friends and I, as one of the top wealth management/investment organizations in the world. Also, I believe that the customers find Credit Suisse attractive as an organization because of their global presence (as previously stated, offices in 50 different countries).
What are their results? Credit Suisse has been reporting very consistent and solid earnings over the past few years. They are not growing as fast as many other companies we have visited, but they by far one of the largest and most significant organizations that we have visited already. They have been headed in a positive trajectory, but the consistency is most likely what the organization values as of right now (it could be different with a smaller firm)
What is their plan? Going forward, Credit Suisse does not seem to want to change or expand at the same velocity as some of the other places we have visited. Specifically as a financial service, Credit Suisse has done well to maintain a positive and relatively consistent trajectory, and has not had any issues with financial regulation like other organizations (J.P Morgan cough), and while I am sure they will be expanding in the future, they already have a well-established global presence.
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