Credit Suisse has sent its clients out to sea.
In conjunction with Fleet Week, the U.S. naval forces' annual celebration of Memorial Day, Credit Suisse hosted a soiree for 10 private banking clients aboard the aircraft carrier U.S.S. John F. Kennedy.
But the party was not the typical drink-a-cocktail and schmooze-with-an- investment-officer private banking affair. Credit Suisse whisked guests to the ship, which was anchored 300 miles off the Virginia coast, via a propeller plane with backward-facing seats.
After a tailhooked landing, guests were shown to bunks in small cabins, where they settled in for an overnight sail to New York.
"It's anti-plush, but it's a lot of fun," said Barry R. Sloane, the Geneva-based banking company's North American regional head for private banking. Clients have already started asking for invitations to next year's nautical slumber party, he said.
Mr. Sloane is a trustee of the Intrepid Museum's board of directors - a position that permitted him to invite 10 guests to the Fleet Week festivities. A defense industry magnate and a World War II Navy veteran were among those in the Credit Suisse private client entourage, he said.
The Secretary of the Navy accompanied Credit Suisse's clients on the sail to New York. When they reached the Big Apple, the group took a helicopter with TV reporter Donna Hanover - the wife of Mayor Giuliani - to the deck of the U.S.S. Intrepid.
Upon arrival, the group was introduced to President Clinton.
"We do everything first class," Mr. Sloane said.
Indeed, despite the Kennedy's plebeian accommodations, the Credit Suisse clients were treated to several black-tie dinner dances, Mr. Sloane said.
"You need at least two tuxedos for Fleet Week, unless you're a very neat eater," he quipped.
