The IOOF Holdings Ltd (ASX: IFL) share price could be set to climb this morning after announcing the immediate departure of current Managing Director Mr Christopher Kelaher.
What did IOOF announce this morning?
IOOF announced leadership changes as it "looks to the future" and continues to focus on "restoring trust and accelerating change" in the interests of better client outcomes.
The company-appointed Mr Allan Griffiths has been elected as independent, Non-Executive Chairman, effective immediately. Mr Christopher Kelaher will leave the company by mutual agreement immediately and will continue on his current leave arrangements before ceasing employment on 2 July 2019.
The new Chairman Mr Griffiths said that "succession planning is a key aspect of the Board's remit and the robustness of our succession plan enabled the company to appoint Renato Mota as Acting CEO in December 2018".
Is the IOOF share price in the buy zone?
Despite being hauled before the Royal Commission and receiving scathing criticism from Commissioner Kenneth Hayne, IOOF escaped relatively unscathed from the ordeal.
With no structural separation and no penalties (for the moment), IOOF's share price has climbed 29.2% higher so far this year largely due to the spike after the Royal Commission final report.
Having said that, the company's strong short-term performance hasn't helped the fact that the IOOF share price is still down 35% in the last 12 months.
The company is still delivering better returns than fellow wealth manager AMP Limited (ASX: AMP) which has seen its share price freefall 54.4% in the last year after a horror 2018 run marred by revelations and resignations.
I'm not sure that either IOOF or AMP are in the buy zone at the moment given the potential headwinds, including the chance of further penalties, present a challenge for growth in the short to medium-term.
However, both of these shares are admittedly cheap and the long-term honey pot that is Australian superannuation could help the profitability of these companies rebound.
For those Fools looking for the next hot growth prospect, I'd suggest checking out this buy-rated stock that could be set to take a new-age $22 billion industry by storm.
