Another unknown at Cochlear

Cochlear has announced the appointed of Chris Smith as CEO effective 1 September 2015. Mr Smith has been with COH for more than 10 years in various executive roles. Dr Chris Roberts, the current CEO who has been in the role for more than 11 years, will step down at the end of August. Mr Smith will be appointed Deputy CEO from 1 July to allow for a transitionary period. While the Board has been discussing succession planning for a while now, Mr Holliday-Smith appointment seems a bit abrupt and comes somewhat as a surprise to us. Although Mr Smith has over 20 years’ experience in the medical device industry and more than a decade with COH, we (and likely the majority of investors) know very little about his capabilities, management style or strategic views and direction for the company, let alone his thoughts on creating shareholder value. So we are left with yet another unknown and only time to tell if the Board’s decision is in shareholders’ best interest. (COH, Reduce, Price Target A$79.93).