U.S. Annual and Quarterly Executive Turnover Point to Continued Economic Growth

The last year experienced significant upside in the American economy.  Employment growth continued to show steady gains throughout the entire year.  Unemployment also continued to drop throughout the year and was below estimates put forth by virtually all major analysts.  Manufacturing saw gains overall but has not been as positive a force in the economy as has overall employment growth which took place in nearly all sectors of the economy.  These positive trends have also continued in executive turnover for public companies as tracked by Liberum Research's Management Change Database.  Over the most recent number of weeks, stock markets throughout the world have been reeling and concern has been growing for the world economy and particularly the Chinese economy.  Even the United States, which has faired economically quite well in the last year to two years, has appeared to show signs of concern about the economy and the possibility of recession.  While problems remain, Liberum's latest positive monthly, quarterly, and annual executive turnover numbers continue to point to a strong American economy despite the economic difficulties the Chinese and other industrialized nations are encountering.  While the American economy is likely to encounter problems in 2016 as well, Liberum continues to remain optimistic about the economy's overall performance.  The continuing high level of executive turnover in key categories and the continuing positive trend of employment growth throughout the economy serve as a major buffer to future economic difficulties.  

 

Liberum has put together below, an eight year quarterly and annual breakdown of executive turnover totals for CEOs, CFOs and C-level executives covering North America. Most of the below quarterly numbers showed continuing declines until the second quarter of 2011.  At that point, the numbers began to reverse themselves. Turnover at the executive levels of corporate America began to grow while not consistently and that trend has continued and is expected to follow a similar pattern for 2016.

Anyone investing in the market must pay special attention to executive turnover both at the top and the middle executive ranks.  Failure to do so, will result in lost opportunities or worse. To take advantage of executive changes, get a free trial to Liberum's Online Management Change Database.  Just call Richard at 212-988-5497 or send an email to richard@twst.com requesting your free trial.  Within a day of your trial, you will have access to over 250,000 data points from which you can generate ideas and daily information on who is changing jobs at the top and where they are going.

 

Below is a simple table outlining the quarterly and annual turnover totals as registered through Liberum Research's Management Change Database for 2008 through 2015 for CEOs, CFOs and overall C-level turnover.  

 Total CEO Turnover Comparisons   

Year	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
1st Quarter	745	491	388	346	680	583	500	522
2nd Quarter	596	380	321	581	665	619	527	538
3rd Quarter	533	409	298	713	636	627	557	621
4th Quarter	461	430	328	697	673	636	651	674
Annual Total	2,335	1,710	1,335	2,337	2,654	2,465	2,235	2,355

 

 

 Total CFO Turnover Comparisons 

Year	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
1st Quarter	593	332	296	280	640	495	468	513
2nd Quarter	551	326	273	404	612	557	595	588
3rd Quarter	438	279	256	629	598	582	550	628
4th Quarter	364	313	258	476	569	562	586	624
Annual Total	1,946	1,250	1,083	1,789	2,419	2,196	2,199	2,353

 

 

 

Total C-level Turnover Comparisons

Year	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
1st Quarter	6735	4061	3453	2863	5442	3971	4083	3923
2nd Quarter	7430	5051	3199	4041	5036	4102	4117	4767
3rd Quarter	4865	3690	2522	5349	4235	4123	3950	5368
4th Quarter	4277	3439	2381	4596	4197	4196	4200	5297
Annual Total	23,307	16,241	11,555	16,849	18,910	16,392	16,350	19,355

 

Latest Monthly Comparisons

The latest monthly comparison figures with regard to executive turnover for December 2015 as compared with those of December 2014 and December 2015 and November 2015 are as follows:  

• CEO turnover for December 2015 showed a mere 1% change from that of December 2014, CFO turnover increased only 3%, C-level turnover increased 24% and Board of Director turnover increased 21%.  

• The the month to month change from November 2015 to December 2015 overall was somewhat less clear. CEO turnover declined 8% for CEOs, declined 15% for CFOs, but remained unchanged with regard to C-level changes and increased 13% for Board of Director changes.  

December CEO Changes of Possible Significance

In the below report, Liberum has focused on 46 CEO changes of special significance for the month of December out of a total of 229. We have also put together the overall turnover figures for the month of December 2015.  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 COOs, Presidents, Chairmans, etc., just through Liberum's Management Change Database.

DATE       COMPANY   TICKER    EXCHANGE   MARKET CAP $ MILLIONS

12-01 Eurotin Inc  TIN Vancouver CN

12-01 Shutterfly, Inc.  SFLY  NASAQ  1580

12-01 The Travelers Companies, Inc.  TRV  NYSE  35190

12-01 Zurich Insurance  ZURN  SWL

12-02 Glorywin Entertainment Group Inc  GWIN  OTC  106

12-03 Solera Natl Banco  SLRK  OTC  16

12-04 Goldcorp Inc. (USA)  GG  NYSE  10570

12-07 FARO Technologies, Inc.  FARO  NASDAQ  514

12-07 Lantronix, Inc.  LTRX  NASDAQ  18

12-07 NRG Yield Inc  NYLD  NYSE  1160

12-07 Wellgreen Platinum Ltd  WGPLF  OTC  20

12-08 Afrocentric Investment  ACT JSE South Africa

12-08 Benitec Biopharma Ltd  BNTC  NASDAQ  27

12-08 Myers Industries, Inc.  MYE  NYSE  438

12-09 Novogen Limited (ADR)  NVGN  NASDAQ  36

12-10 Robert Half Intl  RHI  NYSE  6130

12-10 Veloxis Pharmaceuticals A/S  LFCYF  OTC  416

12-11 Genesis Energy, L.P.  GEL  NYSE

12-11 NEL ASA NEL.OL  2590

12-11 Sirona Dental Sys., Inc.  SIRO  NASDAQ  6030

12-11 Swiss Prime Site  SWPRF  OTC  5350

12-14 American Midstrea  AMID  NYSE  174

12-14 Cheniere Energy U  CQP  NYSE  7500

12-15 AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc.  AMC  NYSE  2350

12-15 Platform Specialty Products Corp  PAH  NYSE  2600

12-15 Sitestar Corp  SYTE  OTC  4

12-16 Avanza Bank Holding AB  AZA  STOCKHOLM  11150

12-16 BankAtlantic Bancorp, Inc.  BBX  NYSE  247

12-16 Truecar, Inc.  TRUE  NASDAQ  693

12-17 Nanotech Entainmt  NTEK  OTC  2

12-17 Speed Commerce, I  SPDC  UTC  

12-18 Ariad Pharmaceuticals, Inc.  ARIA  NASDAQ  1170

12-18 Southcrest Fin Gr  SCSG  OTC  60

12-21 Derma Sciences, I  DSCI  NASDAQ  119

12-21 Eastern Co  EML  NASDAQ  110

12-21 Kalobios Pharmace  KBIO  97

12-21 Winnebago Industries, Inc.  WGO  NYSE  524

12-22 Acacia Research- Acacia Tech  ACTG  NASDAQ  201

12-22 PDI, Inc.  PDII  9

12-23 Black Box Corporation  BBOX  NASDAQ  140

12-23 MannKind Corporation  MNKD  NASDAQ  630

12-23 Owen Dukes  SPOM  OTC  54904

12-24 True Drinks Holdings, Inc.  TRUU  OTC  19

12-28 Timberline Res Co  TLR  NYSE  2

12-28 Valeant Pharmaceuticals Int'l  VRX  NYSE  35040

12-29 Triumph Group, Inc.  TGI  NYSE  2020

DECEMBER 2015 MANAGEMENT CHANGE STATISTICS

C-LEVEL MANAGEMENT CHANGE STATISTICS
GRAND TOTAL - 1810
TOP INDUSTRY SECTORS
> Drugs/Biotech - 226
> Banking  - 155
> Manufacturing - 97

DECEMBER 2015 CEO CHANGE STATISTICS
GRAND TOTAL - 229
TOP INDUSTRY SECTORS
> Drugs/Biotech - 24> Banking -20
> Energy - 20
> Manufacturing - 12

DECEMBER 2015 CFO CHANGE STATISTICS
GRAND TOTAL - 190
TOP INDUSTRY SECTORS
> Drugs/Biotech - 29
> Manufacturing - 11
> Energy - 10
> Leisure - 10
> Media - 10
> Real Estate - 10

DECEMBER 2015 BOARD OF DIRECTOR CHANGE STATISTICS
GRAND TOTAL - 624
TOP INDUSTRY SECTORS
> Drugs/Biotech - 88
> Banking - 53
> Metals/Mining - 35

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. 

Liberum's over ten 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 tools to develop unique investment ideas.  

November Executive Turnover Points Positive For U.S. Economy

Liberum Research's latest November executive turnover numbers were even more positive than the previous month of October and continued to point in a positive direction for the American economy.  November's executive turnover numbers showed increases over last year's November figures in all four key categories Liberum analyzes for its monthly report (see details below).  The executive turnover figures in November as compared to the previous month of October also showed positive increases in all four categories, something we have not seen for a long time and together indicates positively for the U.S. economy.  The growing executive turnover numbers dovetailed directly with the positive employment growth numbers released last week by ADP for November and more importantly, the U.S. Government's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) November Employment Report.

Typically, Liberum's monthly executive turnover figures tend to follow a similar pattern with the U.S. Government's Bureau of Labor Statistics' (BLS) Monthly Employment Report as well as ADP's Monthly Private Employment Report. The ADP and BLS November Reports exceeded expectations by most analysts and as a result, the Federal Reserve seems even more likely to begin raising interest rates slightly for the first time since the 2008 financial crisis.  According to the ADP November Report:

ADP National Employment Report: Private Sector Employment Increased by 

217,000 Jobs from October to November according to the November ADP National Employment Report®

"The strongest gains in the service sector since June led to greater employment growth in November,”

said Ahu Yildirmaz, VP and head of the ADP Research Institute. “The increase was driven in large part 

by a rebound in professional/business service jobs.”

Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics, said, “Job growth remains strong and steady. The 

current pace of job creation is twice that needed to absorb growth in the working age population. The 

economy is fast approaching full employment and will be there no later than next summer.”

 

 

 

The employment news from the U.S. Government's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) was very close to ADP's Employment Report.  According to the November BLS Report:

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 211,000 in November, and the unemployment

rate was unchanged at 5.0 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Job gains occurred in construction, professional and technical services, and healthcare.

In November, the unemployment rate held at 5.0 percent, and the number of unemployed persons, at 7.9 million, was essentially unchanged. Over the past 12 months, the

unemployment rate and the number of unemployed persons are down by 0.8 percentage point and 1.1 million, respectively.

Liberum expects the early winter months will continue to see the economy moving forward but, as we stated in the previous month and earlier months, with blips along the way.  We continue to expect executive turnover numbers in the early winter months will also remain fairly positive. Overall, we remain positive for the American Economy despite the likelihood of a slight increase in interest rates from the Federal Reserve and continuing economic difficulties abroad.

 

Liberum Comparison Breakdown of Key November Executive Turnover Figures

Below is a breakdown of Liberum's key executive category percentage changes for November 2015 compared with November a year earlier and the previous month of October 2015.    

 

November 2014 Compared to November 2015

• For November 2015 increases in turnover occurred in all four key categories.  CEO changes increased 18% from November a year earlier, CFO changes increased 6%, C-level changes increased 37%, and board of director changes increased 44%, respectively.  

October 2015 Compared to November 2015

• The month to month changes in executive turnover for all four key categories saw increases. CEO changes increased 28%, CFO changes increased 6%, C-level changes increased 9%, and board of director changes increased 14%.      

Below are the overall turnover totals for November 2015.  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 and is a potential way to come up with unique special situation opportunities.  Executive search firms can use the information to generate new leads and new clients, and consulting firms can use the data for a variety of analytical purposes.   

Call now (212-988-5497) or email richard@twst.com and get a no obligation one week trial to Liberum's online management change database. Find out why Hedge Funds, Executive Search, Business Intelligence, and Consulting firms all rely on Liberum's data.

 

KEY CEO CHANGES - NOVEMBER 2015
55 COMPANIES WITH CEO CHANGES WORTH RE-EXAMINING

 

According to Liberum's Management Change Database, a total of 250 CEO related changes occurred during November 2015. Here are 51 changes 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. (Anyone using Liberum's database could do the same kind of analysis for other key titles, e.g., CFOs, COOs, CMOs, CIOs, Presidents, etc.)

DATE  COMPANY TICKER  EXCHANGE  MARKET CAP $ MILLIONS    

Change date   Co name Ticker Market cap

11-02 Enteromedics Inc.  ETRM  NASDAQ  33

11-02 Intrum Justitia IJ  STO 21170

11-02 Quest Resource Ho  QRHC NASDAQ  85

11-03 Commerzbank  CBK LONDON

11-03 DSW Inc.  DSW  NYSE  2180

11-03 Groupon, Inc.  GRPN  NASDAQ  2640

11-03 Kappahl KAHL  STO  2370

11-03 Razor Resources Inc  RZOR  OTC  607830

11-04 Beijer Electronic  BELE  STO  1020

11-04 First Capital Bcp  FCVA NASDAQ  73

11-04 Lumber Liquidator  LL  NYSE  420

11-05 Armistice Resourc  AZ  TORONTO 42

11-05 Wound Mgmt Tech  WNDM  OTC  7

11-09 E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co  DD  NYSE  58520

11-09 Elementis  ELM  CVE

11-09 Loomis AB  LOOMB  STO

11-09 Santos  SSLTY  OTC  3710

11-09 XLI Technologies, Inc.  MYXY  32

11-10 Jason Industries, Inc.  JASN  NASDAQ  84

11-12 Advance Auto Parts, Inc.  AAP  NYSE  12050

11-12 Connecture, Inc.  CNXR NASDAQ  93

11-12 Entree Gold Inc.  EGI  NYSE  38

11-12 Platinum Group Me   PLG  NYSE 161

11-12 Sunshine Capital, Inc.  SCNP  OTC

11-13 La Quinta Holding   LQ  NYSE  1910

11-13 LDK Solar Co Ltd.  LDKYQ  OTC  20

11-16 CNA Financial Corporation  CNA  NYSE  9740

11-17 Akeena Solar, Inc  WEST  OTC  618197

11-17 Bob Evans Farms, Inc.  BOBE  NASDAQ  

11-17 Elephant Talk Com   ETAK  NYSE  58

11-17 TiVo Inc.  TIVO  NASDAQ  893

11-17 Virtual Piggy, Inc VPIG  OTC  38

11-18 Bridgeline Digital, Inc. BLIN  NASDAQ  5

11-18 Intelligent Livin  ILIV  OTC  14019

11-18 Korian SA  KORI  EPA  2840

11-18 Pivot Pharmaceuticals Inc  PVOTF  OTC  98

11-19 Kalobios Pharmace  KBIO  UTC  75

11-19 Kemper Corporation  KMPR  NYSE  2110

11-19 Lantronix, Inc.  LTRX  NASDAQ  17

11-19 Markel Corporation  MKL  NYSE  12560

11-19 NBC Capital Corporation NBY  14

11-19 Portage Biotech Inc  PTGEF  OTC  33

11-20 Avalanche Biotechnologies Inc  AAVL  NASDAQ  186

11-23 Alfa Laval  ALFALAVAL  OTC

11-23 Global Healthcare  GBCS  OTC  16

11-23 TerraForm Global, Inc.  GLBL  NASDAQ  480

11-23 Truecar, Inc.  TRUE  NASDAQ  719

11-24 Akers Biosciences  AKER  NASDAQ  10

11-25 MannKind Corporation  MNKD  NASDAQ  896

11-27 Point Capital Inc  PTCI  OTC  85

11-30 Broadwind Energy,  BWEN  NASDAQ  30

 

NOVEMBER 2015 MANAGEMENT CHANGE STATISTICS

C-LEVEL MANAGEMENT CHANGE STATISTICS
GRAND TOTAL - 1,817

TOP INDUSTRY SECTORS

> Drugs- 174> Banking - 161
> Energy - 143

NOVEMBER 2015 CEO CHANGE STATISTICS
GRAND TOTAL - 250

TOP INDUSTRY SECTORS

> Drugs/Biotech - 20

> Energy- 20> Banking - 18
> Metals/Mining - 17

NOVEMBER 2015 CFO CHANGE STATISTICS
GRAND TOTAL - 223

TOP INDUSTRY SECTORS

> Drugs/Biotech - 24
> Energy - 16
> Banking - 14

NOVEMBER 2015 BOARD OF DIRECTOR CHANGE STATISTICS
GRAND TOTAL - 550

TOP INDUSTRY SECTORS

> Drugs/Biotech - 75
> Energy - 43
> Banking - 32

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 CFOs 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 over ten-year-old database offers institutional investors the ability to examine: 

• an individual company, 
• sector/s, 
• corporate titles
• groups of companies, 
• market caps
• 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 easily search and manipulate data.