January Executive Turnover In Flux

January 2013 saw a variety of mixed news with regard to overall employment and executive turnover.  Initially at the end of the month, ADP released its latest monthly Private Employment Report which was quite positive.  Late last week, however, the United States Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its monthly employment numbers for job growth and unemployment and these were not as positive as those of ADP. Liberum Research, which tracks executive turnover in public companies, saw a decline in overall executive turnover but the numbers were not worrisome and we expect to see the level of turnover to increase as we move into the late winter and early spring. 

According to ADP's January Employment Report:

Private sector employment increased by 192,000 jobs from December to January.  The report, which is derived from ADP’s actual payroll data, measures the change in total nonfarm private employment each month on a seasonally adjusted basis.  The December 2012 report, which reported job gains of 215,000, was revised downward by 30,000 to 185,000 jobs.

The U.S. Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics January 2013 Employment Report was a bit more sanguine:

The U.S. Labor Department released the January 2013 jobs report Friday, showing the unemployment rate inched upward from 7.8% to 7.9%. Employers added 157,000 jobs in January, short estimates of 168,000, which would have kept the unemployment rate stable. The jobs report included some good news: Revisions to last year's data, customary in January, show the U.S. added 335,000 more jobs than initially reported in 2012, bringing the monthly average for jobs gained to 181,000 from the 153,000 initially reported.  Employment gains for November and December were revised higher by a total of 127,000.

Overall the news for job growth and even unemployment was reasonably positive.  While job growth has not been large it has continued to grow.  Liberum predicts the same will be the case for executive turnover.  For the next few months, Liberum continues to expect to see reasonably robust turnover in the nation's corporate executive ranks.

Below is a breakdown of the key executive category percentage changes for January 2013 compared with January a year earlier and the previous month of December 2012.   

• For January 2013 CEO changes showed a significant decline of 19% from a year earlier, CFO changes declined a mere 5%, overall C-level (as defined by Liberum Research as board of directors, CEOs, CFOs down to corporate VPs) changes declined a significant 22% while board of director changes increased 150% as compared with January 2012 totals. 

• The month to month change in executive turnover showed a slightly different picture with a similar 19% decline in CEO changes, CFO changes increased 5%, overall C-level changes saw virtually no change and board of director changes declined 19%, respectively.       

Below we put together the overall turnover figures for the month.  The information is just illustrative of how institutional investors could view executive turnover and its possible relationship with a company's performance.  Using Liberum's database could offer a totally new perspective on investment.  

Call now (212-988-5497) or email richard@twst.com and get a no obligation free one week trial to Liberum's online database.

KEY CEO CHANGES - JANUARY 201340 COMPANIES WITH CEO CHANGES WORTH RE-EXAMINING 

According to Liberum's Management Change Database, a total of 199 CEO related changes occurred during January 2013. Here are 40 from the time period that caught my eye.  By significant, 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 $ MILLIONS

01-02 Innovus Pharma INNV  OTN

01-02 Thermoenergy Corp  TMEN OTN

01-03 Omni Ventures, In  OMVE OTN  $1

01-03 Plaza Bank (Wa) PZBW  OTN $4

01-03 Quiksilver, Inc.  ZQK  NYSE  $766

01-04 bebe stores, inc.  BEBE  NASDAQ  $307

01-04 Discovery Laboratories, Inc.  DSCO  NASDAQ

01-04 Inspiremd Inc  NSPRD  OBB 

01-04 Myos Corporation  MYOS  OTN  $18

01-04 Urban Ag Corp  AQUM  OTN

01-07 Anglogold Ashanti  AU  NYSE

01-07 Bill Barrett Corporation  BBG  NYSE

01-07 Compass Minerals International, Inc.  CMP NYSE  $2570

01-07 Sears Holdings Corporation  SHLD  NASDAQ

01-08 Murphy Oil Corporation  MUR  NYSE $11676

01-10 Alpha and Omega S  AOSL  NASDAQ  $224  

01-10 Anoteros Inc  ANOS  OBB  $2

01-10 Dc Brands Intl  HRDN  OTN  $33

01-10 SUPERVALU INC.  SVU  NYSE  $748

01-11 American Communit  ACYD  OTN  $320

01-11 Americas Diamond  ADMC  OBB

01-11 First Data Corporation  FDC  

01-14 Brocade Communications Systems, Inc.  BRCD NASDAQ 

01-14 Glowpoint, Inc. GLOW  ASE  $48

01-15 Alfacell Corporation  ACEL  OTN  $2

01-15 Avalon Holdings Corporation  AWX  ASE  $15

01-15 Bbcn Bancorp, Inc  BBCN  NASDAQ  $920

01-17 A5 Laboratories I  AFLB  OTN  $349

01-17 Genesis Biopharma  GNBP  OTN  $7

01-17 LodgeNet Entertainment Corporation  LNET  $537

01-22 Daegis Inc  DAEG  NASDAQ  $21

01-22 PetSmart, Inc.  PETM  NASDAQ  $7461

01-23 Blackbaud, Inc. BLKB  NASDAQ  $1084

01-23 Rexahn Pharmaceut  RNN  ASE  $31

01-23 Summer Energy Hld  SUME  OTN  $23

01-23 Valor Gold Corp VGLD  OBB  $40

01-24 Diebold Incorporated  DBD  NYSE  $1893

01-28 Brainstorm Cell T  BCLI  OBB  $35

01-29 Chesapeake Energy Corporation  CHK  NYSE  $13030

01-29 International Saf  ISGI  OBB  $12

JANUARY 2013 MANAGEMENT CHANGE STATISTICS

C-LEVEL MANAGEMENT CHANGE STATISTICS
GRAND TOTAL - 1452

TOP INDUSTRY SECTORS

> Drugs/Biotech - 140> Energy - 123
> Business Services - 115

JANUARY 2013 CEO CHANGE STATISTICS
GRAND TOTAL - 199

TOP INDUSTRY SECTORS

> Drugs/Biotech - 26> Energy - 20
> Business Services - 18

JANUARY 2013 CFO CHANGE STATISTICS
GRAND TOTAL - 197

TOP INDUSTRY SECTORS

> Metals/Mining - 23
> Drugs/Biotech  - 22
> Banking - 13
> Energy - 13

JANUARY 2013 BOARD OF DIRECTOR CHANGE STATISTICS
GRAND TOTAL - 410

TOP INDUSTRY SECTORS

> Drugs/Biotech - 59
> Energy - 31
> Metals/Mining - 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 CFOsNew 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. 

Liberum's nearly eight year old database offers institutional investors the ability to examine: 

• an individual company, 
• sector/s, 
• corporate titles
• 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 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 which when combined, could be used as a sophisticated method for developing potential short and long-term investment ideas. 

Liberum's database whether used as an online tool, an electronic feed or as a means to receive customized reports is broken down into a number of highly specific fields that afford a user the ability to search and manipulate data.  

Investors interested in special situation opportunities or corporate management changes should consider taking a free trial to Liberum's Management Change Database.  To get a no obligation trial, call Richard Jacovitz at 212-988-5497 or send an email request. The next step is to get a reliable source of these investment leads - and that's why funds use Liberum. 

ABOUT LIBERUM

The largest database of C-level executive change at public companies.  Frequently quoted in the financial press, Liberum helps investors monitor this important, continuous stream of investment events.  The data is also useful for investment bankers, private equity, executive search and consulting firms.  The data can be used in numerous ways. 

Daily customizable alerts, a searchable database, custom reports, xml feeds.   Liberum clients get the data the way they can best exploit it.  Get a short trial.   

Richard