On Thursday 11 August, Scotch College Business students Philippa Smith, Quinn Spencer, Elliot Sims and Reuben Fernee were hosted by investment bank Credit Suisse to an engaging day in their Sydney Head Office.

Head of Private Banking, Relationship Management, Paul Thomas did an incredible job preparing for the day, and put together an engaging and unique experience for the students.

After a relaxing walk through the Royal Botanic Gardens, we arrived at their imposing 46 storey building on Circular Quay. Credit Suisse pride themselves on providing second to none service for their customers, and we were well and truly made to feel important. Sitting in a stunning corner office with Harbour views, we started the day with CEO John Knox regaling us with the story of how he managed to progress to this position by the age of 40, the qualities of a future ready employee (intellect, hard-work, people skills), and some of the challenges for Credit Suisse going forwards.

Next, the students had an engaging forty-five minutes with Chief Investment Officer and Head of Portfolio Management, Andrew McAuley. He shared the investment strategies of Credit Suisse and how tailoring the investment mix to the customer, whilst considering their extensive global research, was how they managed to maintain such a satisfied client base. The students were also encouraged to apply for their Summer and Winter Internships in the future.

A unique opportunity was then provided through a tour of the trading floor with Winston Loke, Chief Operating Officer of Equities Australia. Very few people step onto the trading floor due to privacy issues, however the students were given this experience and saw the front line of high-level equity trading.

After a lunch break, we were then hosted by Vivienne Balit and Nicholas Woolbank, who shared about the Event Management side of client engagement and the Graduate Program. Unfortunately, we did not manage to score an invite to the Private Evening with Roger Federer, however it was fascinating to see how Credit Suisse catered to clients to whom purchased experiences were not unattainable. Unique and money-can’t-buy experiences such as private dinners at the Sydney Opera House were the source of client engagement, and the students were fascinated by the presentation.

Our final session for the day was with Head of Investment Consulting, Steve Cabot, who shared about the current state of the markets and some complications that arise with managing clients and tumultuous world events.

Overall, the students expressed thankfulness to Scotch, Paul Thomas and Credit Suisse for investing in them and their future potential. Each student walked away with a better understanding of how the world of wholesale investment works and some potential opportunities for them in study, career and future investing.

Callum Iles