NIB Holdings Limited (ASX: NHF) shares are sinking on Monday morning.
At the time of writing, the private health insurer's shares are down 3.5% to $6.98.
Why are NIB shares sinking?
Investors have been selling the company's shares this morning after it announced that its managing director and CEO, Mark Fitzgibbon, would be stepping down at 22 years at the helm.
According to the release, Fitzgibbon has informed the NIB board that he intends to provide notice of his retirement, effective 1 September 2024.
The outgoing leader joined NIB all the way back in 2002 as its managing director and CEO.
He led the company's demutualisation and listing on the ASX in 2007, and then took the company into the ASX 100 index.
Commenting on the exit, NIB chair David Gordon said:
Mark has been a tremendous leader at NIB and has had an enormous impact on the Australian health sector, making an extraordinary contribution over more than two decades.
From modest beginnings in 1952, today nib provides more than 1.6 million Australian and New Zealand residents with private health insurance; it looks after the health and wellbeing needs of more than 200,000 international students and workers; NIB is Australia's third-largest travel insurer, a 24-7 global business; and it helps around 40,000 participants in Australia's disability sector.
For the last 22 years, Mark has been at the helm of a company that has undergone a remarkable transformation, and that transformation is a great credit to his leadership.
What's next?
It seems that NIB already had a succession plan in place. This morning, it was revealed that Ed Close had been selected as the company's incoming managing director and CEO. He is expected to formally take up his position at NIB before the end of the calendar year 2024.
Close is currently the leader of the core Australian Residents Health Insurance (ARHI) business, where he has driven strong growth. The CEO-elect oversees product development, claims, and customer services and leads NIB's strategic partnerships with brokers and white-label partners.
Commenting on the appointment, NIB's Chair, David Gordon, said:
I'm delighted with Ed's appointment. It is a testament to Mark's leadership, and team development, that we can appoint Ed with great confidence. Ed has deep insights into the way NIB can continue to help shape the future of healthcare in Australia and he has the support of NIB's senior Executive team and the Board to achieve that. We look forward to working with him.
This sentiment was echoed by the outgoing CEO. Fitzgibbon said:
I am very pleased for Ed. He is an outstanding leader and will continue to be supported by nib's world-class Executive team. I look forward to working with him during the transition period.
NIB shares are now down 16% over the past 12 months.
