Innovation

GLOBAL INVESTOR FOCUS
Innovation — 0
One nanometer measures 0.000000001 meters. The relation between
1 meter and 1 nanometer corresponds to that between the diameter of
the earth and that of a hazelnut. The fact that we have been able to
penetrate this world of ultrasmall particles in the first place is down to
a groundbreaking innovation: the development of the scanning tunneling
microscope. Thanks to this, it is now possible to make these
microelements usable. They could lead to revolutionary advances in
medicine, with nanoparticles being used as tiny markers to make individual
genes, proteins or even small molecules visible and to track
them in cells. Credit Suisse recognized the potential of this key technology
at a very early stage and is now making connections between
investors and scientists.
For innovation to occur in the first place, the right basic conditions
are of vital importance. These conditions also include the interplay
between science and economics. Only those who succeed in getting
knowledge out of the laboratories and into the market quickly are able
to survive in the long term in the face of intense competition. Investors
in particular play an important part when it comes to providing access
to the market for promising developments in research.
History shows that innovation has always been an important driver
of economic growth and continues to be so. The Asian countries with
their rapidly burgeoning economies provide a very good example of
this from recent history. They show very clearly what a spirit of innovation
can achieve, and that it pays to take entrepreneurial risks in order
to foster progress and growth.
This is very much in the spirit of the “tradition to innovate” to which
Credit Suisse feels it has been committed for over 150 years. For us,
as a global financial services institution, the challenge is also to make
these developments in research and industry useful to investors by
looking ahead in order to identify future trends, asking critical questions
and seeking dialog with our clients. Which is precisely what we
also want to do with this current edition of Global Investor Focus.
Photo: Hans Schürmann
Arthur Vayloyan
Head Private Banking Investment Services and Products