Management Turnover as Change Agent

Friday, October 4, 2013

3rd Quarter Executive Turnover Unsettling

The latest quarterly and monthly executive turnover results have been a bit confusing with regard to the American and Canadian economies.  Both third quarter and September executive turnover totals for CEOs, CFOs, C-level executives (board of directors down to VP level) and board of director changes have been inconsistent when compared on a year to year, month to month and quarter to quarter basis.  Liberum's analysis is further complicated by the latest government closings which will undoubtedly impact this coming Friday's Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Report.  The BLS' Employment Report, even if the government is reopened in time, due to the vagaries of the government closing, will not be accurate or will not be released.  
Overall, Liberum's latest monthly and quarterly executive turnover totals show an economy recovering but still facing a number of uncertainties. This conclusion is reaffirmed by ADP's September Private Employment Report which was released this morning and was below what analysts had anticipated.  According to the ADP Report:
Private sector employment increased by 166,000 jobs from August to September

Liberum has put together below a quarterly breakdown of executive turnover totals for CEOs, CFOs and C-level executives covering North America from 2008 through this last quarter.  
Below is a simple table outlining the quarterly turnover totals as registered through Liberum's Management Change Database for 2008 through the second quarter of 2013 for CEO, CFO and overall C-level turnover.  To get more extensive turnover details contact Liberum.  

 Total CEO Turnover Comparisons   
             
 Year 2008    2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 
1st Quarter 745491 388346 680 583 
 2nd Quarter596 380321 581665 619 
 3rd Quarter533409298713 636627
 4th Quarter461430328697 673
 Annual Total2,3351,7101,3352,337 2,654        1,829
 Total CFO Turnover Comparisons 
                 
 Year 2008    2009 2010 2011 2012  2013
1st Quarter 593 332 296 280 640 495 
 2nd Quarter551 326 273 404612 557 
 3rd Quarter438 279 256629 598582
 4th Quarter364 313  258   476569
 Annual Total1,9461,250 1,0831,789 2,4191,639
 Total C-level Turnover Comparisons
 Year 2008    2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 
1st Quarter 6735 4061 34532863 5442 3971 
 2nd Quarter7430 5051 3199 404150364102 
 3rd Quarter4865 3690 25225349 42354123 
 4th Quarter4277 3439  2381   4596 4197
 Annual Total23,307 16,241 11,55516,849 18,91012,196
 

The quarterly trend for key executives (above) illustrates a continuiing concern for the North American economy.  

The latest monthly comparison figures with regard to executive turnover for September 2013 with those of September 2012 and August 2013 and September 2013 are as follows:  
  • CEO turnover for September 2013 increased 12% from that of September 2012, CFO turnover declined 3%, overall C-level turnover declined 1% and Board of Director turnover increased 9%.  
  • The month to month change from August 2013 to September 2013 showed an increase of 2% for CEOs, a decline of 3% for CFOs a decline of 11% for C-level changes and a decline of 19% for board of director changes.  
In the below report, Liberum has focused on an unusually large fifty four CEO changes of special significance for the month of September.  We have also put together the overall turnover figures for the month of September 2013.  The below information is just illustrative of how investors could view executive turnover and its possible relationship with a company's performance. The same could be done for CFOs, COOs, Presidents, Chairmans etc. just through our database.

DATE       COMPANY   TICKER    EXCHANGE   MARKET CAP $ MILLIONS
09-03 Antaga Intl Corp   ANTR  TOR  54
09-03 ClickSoftware Technologies Ltd.  CKSW  NASDAQ  216
09-03 Morgans Hotel Group Co.  MHGC  NASDAQ   227
09-03 Nokia Corporation (ADR)  NOK  NYSE  19006
09-03 Reachlocal, Inc.  RLOC  NASDAQ  319
09-04 Active Health Foo  AHFDD  OBB  131
09-04 VIVUS, Inc.  VVUS  NASDAQ  1055
09-05 Rcs Capital Corpo  RCAP  NYSE  39
09-06 Chembio Diagnosti  CEMI  NASDAQ   31
09-06 First Potomac Realty Trust  FPO  NYSE  750
09-09 8x8, Inc.  EGHT  NASDAQ   716
09-09 American Ecology Corporation  ECOL  NASDAQ   513
09-09 Communications Systems, Inc.  JCS  NASDAQ   101
09-09 Sharprock Resourc  SHRK  OTN  846
09-09 The Timken Company  TKR  NYSE  5930
09-10 Invivo Therapeuti  NVIV  OTN  110
09-10 Pure Bioscience  PURE  OTN  12
09-11 CoBiz, Inc.   COBZ  NASDAQ    367
09-11 iGATE Corporation  IGTE  NASDAQ   1533
09-11 Pandora Media, In   P  NYSE  3772
09-11 Selective Insurance Group  SIGI  NASDAQ   1332
09-12 Renal Care Group, Inc.   RCI  NYSE  21414
09-13 Golden Global Cor  GLDG  OTN  383
09-13 Poly Shield   SHPR  OBB  107
09-13 Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd.   STP  NYSE  230
09-16 Danske Bk a/S Bea  DNSKY  OTN  22572
09-16 Esterline Technologies Corporation  ESL  NYSE  2567
09-16 Terra Nitr Co Com  TNH  NYSE  3828
09-17 Thompson Crk Mtls  TC  NYSE  609
09-18 Acusphere Inc  ACUSD  OTN  3
09-18 Amarok Resources  AMOK  OTN  909
09-18 CyberOptics Corporation  CYBE  NASDAQ   44
09-18 Discovery Holding Company  DISCA  NASDAQ   28928
09-18 Electronic Arts I  EA   NASDAQ   8248
09-19 Atlantic Coast Federal Corporation  ACFC  NASDAQ  10
09-19 Efftec Intl Inc  EFFI  OTN  269
09-19 Emed Mining Publi  EMD  TORONTO  148
09-19 Horace Mann Educators Corporation  HMN  NYSE  1097
09-19 Rare Earth Minera  REM  LONDON
09-20 Actinium Pharma  ATNM  OTN  131
09-20 Magellan Health Services, Inc.  MGLN  NYSE  1577
09-23 Bison Petroleum C  BISN  OTN  31
09-23 Globalscape Inc  GSB  NYSE  29
09-23 Mfa Mtg Invts Inc   MFA  NYSE  2694
09-23 Mood Media Corpor  MM  TORONTO  113
09-23 VAALCO Energy, Inc.  EGY  NYSE  309
09-23 Weis Markets Inc  WMK  NYSE  1358
09-24 Diamond Offshore Drilling, Inc.  DO  NYSE  8843
09-24 Senomyx Inc.  SNMX  NASDAQ  141
09-24 VeriFone Holdings, Inc.  PAY  NYSE  2488
09-26 Ata Inc.  ATAI  NASDAQ  115
09-26 Webster Financial Corporation  WBS  NYSE  2298
09-30 Active Power, Inc.  ACPW  NASDAQ  56
09-30 Albemarle & Bond  ABM  LONDON

SEPTEMBER 2013 MANAGEMENT CHANGE STATISTICS
C-LEVEL MANAGEMENT CHANGE STATISTICS
GRAND TOTAL - 1285
TOP INDUSTRY SECTORS
> Drugs 
- 123
> Banking - 109
> Energy - 89
SEPTEMBER 2013 CEO CHANGE STATISTICS
GRAND TOTAL - 211
TOP INDUSTRY SECTORS

> Energy - 22
> Drugs/Biotech - 19
> Metals/Mining- 16
SEPTEMBER 2013 CFO CHANGE STATISTICS
GRAND TOTAL - 198
TOP INDUSTRY SECTORS

> Drugs/Biotech - 21
> Banking - 15
> Energy - 14
> Metals/Mining - 14
SEPTEMBER 2013 BOARD OF DIRECTOR CHANGE STATISTICS
GRAND TOTAL - 422
TOP INDUSTRY SECTORS

> Drugs/Biotech - 51
> Metals/Mining - 32
> Business Services - 25
> Telecom - 25