Immanuel Shilongo

At Work

I was quite nervous going into my first day as this will definitely be a whole different environment then Namibia and I didn’t know what to expect really. But after meeting my mentor, Mr. Rossi, it made me relax a bit because he was so calm which made me more comfortable. I will always take my first day at the office as one of my best at Credit Suisse ILS because my colleagues were so welcoming and friendly, it was at that moment were my fears or worries disappeared and just like that, I felt I was part of their family right away. I was so fortunate enough to have lunch or coffee with most of them and get a better insight of the job they do.
Before working at Credit Suisse I knew close to nothing about insurance but in my short time there I learned so much about insurance and the in-depth processes that go on into the insurance business. All thanks to my mentor for always willing to listen and answer every little question I had, at times I felt I was a little annoying but he kept his cool and always helped where I was going wrong. He also made sure I know a broader understanding of insurance and re-insurance.

Below are a few tasks that I was responsible for:

·       Creating and distributing break reports to external parties

·       Reconciling month-end valuation with broker prices

·       Creating and distributing trade files to the administrator

A special thanks to the Operations team to who was all friendly and easy to talk to and ready to help me during my time there, and I had amazing laughs with them too.

My Swiss Host Family

Hans and Elizabeth Niederer welcomed me with open arms and love into their home and made feel part of the family right away, they made it my home away from home. They did do a few things differently from the way we do in Namibia but I adapted in no time. The Niederer family were always eager to know how I was doing and were helpful in making my stay go nice and smooth. My personal highlight was when Elizabeth took us to Amden to go sledging which was so amazing and I enjoyed every bit. I will cherish the walks we had around Wadenswil and learning more about their history. It was unfortunate that we were unable to explore more of Switzerland. But my stay with Hans and Elizabeth was nothing short of exciting. And a huge thank you to them for taking me in and making my stay in Switzerland memorable. I already miss them so much, especially Elizabeth’s’ cooking.

Highlights and Challenges in Switzerland

My greatest highlight was going to Amden and having my first fun day in the snow, I had a really amazing time sledding there. I also enjoyed the boat trip from Mount Rigi to Luzern as it was so calm and peaceful. Visiting the town of Zug with the other interns was pretty great too.
When we got here in Switzerland many told us that it was an unusual winter and it was not snowing as usual, until one Friday morning when it started snowing, I was so excited to finally catch some snowflakes and have some snowfall on my head you know. It was such a beautiful view which I will never forget.
Adapting to the forever changing weather in Switzerland was something I struggled with at the beginning, as it can be a bit warm in the morning making me put on light clothing only for it to rain or get colder.

My Future Plans

At the moment I plan on completing my Bachelor's degree and eventually completing my honors degree at the University of Johannesburg. My time here in Switzerland has shown me how amazing it is seeing different places, so after completion of my studies and articles, I would love to visit different countries and definitely Switzerland again because I feel like I have unfinished business here.

Personal Message

I want to send my sincere gratitude to the B360 team, Credit Suisse for this amazing opportunity and also to Nico Smit who relayed to us all the information we needed before we left for Switzerland. This was indeed a once in a lifetime opportunity.