Mandle switches sides

Sanford C. Bernstein's senior U.S. banking analyst, Ron Mandle, had toyed with the idea of a switch to the buy side for some time, but it took a foreign government to get him to pull the trigger. Last fall one of Mandle's clients -- Government of Singapore Investment Corp. -- called about an opening on their staff. "There were three things that I wanted," says the 58-year-old Wall Street veteran. "Something global, access to Wall Street and access to the companies I cover. GIC offered all of that."

Mandle signed on with GIC in April, spent two months in Singapore and returned last month to New York, where he will follow about 25 global commercial banks and brokerages for the $100 billion investment group; he may eventually add coverage of mortgage companies. After sell-side positions at Oppenheimer & Co., PaineWebber and Bernstein, the researcher finds the asset management business a welcome change. He arrives at work a little later, leaves a little earlier and spends time running a small financial services portfolio. "I like that," he says.