Executive management changes increase in September

The number of management changes from the VP level up to the board of directors increased during the month of September, according to a report from Liberum Research, a company that tracks changes in top management for investors interested in buying and selling stock based on such news.  Liberum counted a total of 1,563 changes in board members, CEOs, CFOs, EVPs and VPs in September, up from 1,463 in August.  Liberum also tracked 10 CIO changes in September, down from the 17 in August.  Of the 10 CIO changes, there were

• three promotions (Jeffrey Keisling at Wyeth, Kevin Shearan at Mellon Financial, and Jerry Bartlett at Ameritrade)
• five companies hiring CIOs from outside (Sam Coursen at Feescale Semiconductor, Michael Rapken at Yellow Roadway, Cecilia Claudio at Mercury Interactive, Timothy Monteith at Masco and Michael Boltz at Amerus Group)
• one resignation (Cecilia Claudio from Align Technologies)
• and one retirement (Wyeth’s Bruce Fadem).

Richard Jacovitz, Liberum’s senior vice president and director of research, says the continued increase in management changes is a sign of the pressure on executives to “perform or move on.”  He expects the rapid pace of management change to continue through this month.