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NewswireTODAY - /newswire/ -
New York, NY, United States, 2008/11/07 - As the financial system and the economy continue to reel we have seen a continued growth in overall unemployment (6.5% the latest figures) we have yet, however, to see a corresponding increase in executive turnover. Why the contradiction?.
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For the last number of months, I have continued to predict an uptick in executive turnover as compared with the comparable time frames in 2007. So far, that prediction has not come to pass. As the financial system and the economy continue to reel we have seen a continued growth in overall unemployment (6.5% the latest figures) we have yet, however, to see a corresponding increase in executive turnover. Companies continue to cut expenses, employee totals and production. Companies have not chosen to make for similar changes in their executive ranks which in many situations may be imperative.
Turnover numbers for October 2008 continue to show an overall decline in key executive categories Liberum tracks. October 2008 continued a significant decline in executive turnover for CEOs, CFOs and overall C-level management when compared with the same time frame in 2007.
CEO turnover declined 25%, CFO turnover declined 33% overall C-level turnover (from board of directors on down to corporate vice presidents) registered a 31% decline and board of directors declined 33% for October 2008 as compared with the same timeframe in 2007.
While the numbers have not gone as anticipated, Liberum expects executive turnover numbers will begin to increase as we move through the late fall and into the winter. Yesterday's dramatic political shift may actually augur for more change at the top of many corporations that continue to fail to perform.
Despite decliningexecutive turnover numbers for October, there remain a number of specific high-level executive changes that demand investors' attention. In this report we have focused on a select number of CEO changes of "special significance" for October.
Key Management Changes - October 2008
32 Companies with CEO Changes Worth Re-examining
According to Liberum's Management Change Database, a total of 164 CEO related changes occurred during October 2008. Here are 32 from the time period that caught my eye, an unusually large number for such a small monthly turnover total. I'm looking for situations where I think a particularly strong or weak choice has been made - given the apparent current state of the company - or where there is an interesting special situation.
Date Company Ticker Exchange Market Cap
10-01 Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corp. AGM (NYSE) $68 million
10-01 Standard Microsystems Corp. SMSC (NASDAQ) $569 million
10-02 Domtar Corp. New UFS (NYSE) $2.109 billion
10-06 Endocare Inc. ENDO (NASDAQ) $14 million
10-07 Unisys Corporation UIS (NYSE) $726 million (check Liberum blog)
10-08 Dynamex, Inc. DDMX (NASDAQ) $250 million
10-08 Fairchild Corp. FA (NYSE) $69 million
10-08 Quest Software, Inc. QSFT (NASDAQ) $1.118 billion
10-10 Walgreen Company WAG (NYSE) $22.983 billion (check Liberum blog
10-13 Antares Pharma, Inc. AIS (AMEX) $31 million
10-13 Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc. DTG (NYSE) $31 million
10-15 Cadence Design Systems CDNS (NASDAQ) $1.24 billion (check Liberum blog
10-16 Digitiliti, Inc. DIGI (Other OTC) $27 million
10-16 Global Industries, Ltd. GLBL (NASDAQ) $444 million
10-16 MTR Gaming Group, Inc. MNTG (NASDAQ) $79 million
10-20 Adventrx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ANX (AMEX) $14 million
10-20 Best Energy Services BEYS (OTC BB) $22 million
10-20 Dyax Corp. DYAX (NASDAQ) $229 million
10-20 Premier Energy PNRC (OTC BB) $162 million
10-20 Sum Total Systems, Inc. SUMT (NASDAQ) $148 million (check Liberum blog)
10-21 Ambac Financial Group, Inc. ABK (NYSE) $904 million
10-21 Matrixx Initiatives, Inc. MTXX (NASDAQ) $170 million
10-22 Affymetrix, Inc. AFFX (NASDAQ) $332 million
10-22 Agilysys, Inc. AGYS (NASDAQ) $139 million
10-22 Harris Interactive Inc. HPOL (NASDAQ) $61 million (check Liberum blog
10-27 Asianada Inc. ASND (OTC BB)
10-27 General Growth Properties GGP (NYSE) $589 million
10-27 PLX Technology, Inc. PLXT (NASDAQ) $114 million
10-28 Gramercy Capital Corp. GKK (NYSE) $39 million
10-29 JDS Uniphase JDSU (NASDAQ) $1.15 billion (check Liberum blog)
10-29 MF Global MF (NYSE) $402 million (check Liberum blog)
10-30 MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc. (NYSE) $3.81 billion
October 2008 Management Change Statistics
C-Level Management Change Statistics
Grand Total - 1,637
Top Industry Sectors
Energy - 120
Drugs/Biotech - 114
Banking - 100
Top Industry Sectors For New Hires Only
Grand Total - 850 or 52% of grand total
Drugs/Biotech - 69
Energy - 62
Banking - 57
October 2008 C-level Total Breakdowns By Status
13% or 206 were internal moves
52% or 850 were new hires from outside the firm
0% or 1 left firms without clear explanation
22% or 354 were promoted within the firm
14% or 226 resigned or retired from the firm
0% or 0 was terminated
October 2008 CEO Change Statistics
Grand Total - 164 Top Industry Sectors
Banking - 16
Drugs/Biotech - 12
Manufacturing - 12
Top Industry Outside CEO Hires Only
Total - 34 or 21% of Grand Total
Banking - 5
Energy - 4
October 2008 CEO Level Breakdowns By Status
27% or 44 were internal moves
21% or 34 were new hires from outside the firm
0% or 0 left firm without clear explanation
30% or 49 were promoted within the firm
23% or 37 resigned or retired from the firm
0% or 0 was terminated
October 2008 CFO Change Statistics
Grand Total - 133 Top Industry Sectors
Energy - 19
Banking - 9
Manufacturing - 9
Top Industry Outside CFO Hires Only
Total - 41 or 31% of Grand Total
Energy - 10
Business Services - 3
October 2008 Board of Director Change Statistics
Grand Total - 399 Top industry Sectors
Metals/Mining - 50
Real Estate - 46
Energy - 43
Top Industry Outside Director Hires Only
Total - 260 or 65% of Grand Total
Real Estate - 35
Drugs/Biotech - 29
Energy - 29
Investors need to diligently monitor key management changes. Certain management changes should be viewed as a "special situation" that can have a direct and major impact on a company's performance and share price.
* New CEOs know more than the market about the company. Their decision to take the position contains information. Likewise the departing CEO. Likewise departing CFOs.
* New CEOs will bring new skills and often-times a new direction. This is normally significant, and worth analyzing.
Liberum Research, the independent research firm focused on corporate management change, has developed an online relational database designed to assist institutional investors develop special situation investment ideas related to executive management change. While special situation investing traditionally revolves around corporate restructuring, spin-offs and acquisitions, executive management changes, depending on the circumstances, can represent a short or long-term investment opportunity. Even when one excludes the major executive changes that continue to impact the troubled financial sector other industry sectors have management change related investment opportunities that merit examination.
Liberum's nearly four year old database offers institutional investors the ability to examine an individual company, sector/s, group of companies, and/or geographic region/s/locations via a metric of one's own choosing. You can use the information individually or in combination with a number of other financial variables/tools to develop unique investment ideas. Subscribers often take the service as an electronic feed rather than as an online service. Through the use of Liberum's electronic feed, investment firms have the ability to integrate Liberum's management change data with a variety of other feeds and data applications.
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richard[.]twst.com 
