THE WOES OF A CIO AND THE CHANGED REALITY OF CHINA 'MAAL'

Bertie knew of the pressures on CIOs but did not realize it had gotten this dire

- MARKETS with Bertie

Bertie made a quick dash to the city of the Merlion last week. It's an unwritten pact between him and his Singaporean friend Nat that whenever he is in town, they have breakfast at Saravana Bhavana. Nat and Bertie started their buy-side careers together and when your first boss is Miranda Priestly incarnate, the underlings end up forging a lifelong bond. Bertie is proud of his friend who has ascended to the post of Asia CIO at a large global firm but, more importantly, has remained a genuine nice guy.

Over cups of steaming filter coffee, the two men were reminiscing some of their early stock picks when Nat sighed. "I miss those days. To be an analyst-and think only about investing and stocks all day."

That remark surprised Bertie. "But isn't that your entire job now. After all the middle name of your designation is 'Investment'." Nat stared out of the window and let out a Hindi expletive that Bertie had taught him. "It's a treadmill, Bert-our industry. You have to run hard to stay where you are." Bertie waited for more.