It’s not often that a large FTSE 100 company has some surprising news to tell investors. Of course, financial performance can swing higher or lower. But changes in key senior managers is usually well documented in advance, to ensure a smooth transition and to not worry shareholders. Yet that doesn’t always go to plan. I’m referring to the news surrounding current CEO Noel Quinn at HSBC (LSE:HSBA). Having reportedly told senior leaders in December that he wasn’t planning to go anywhere, he recently announced that he would be stepping down. Not only stepping down, but leaving HSBC completely, after five years as CEO. This wasn’t part of any planned transition, so it caught a lot of people by surprise (myself included). Quinn commented that “it is now the right time for me to get a better balance between my personal and business life.” The board at HSBC have commented that they are now conducting a search for the new CEO. Over the past week the stock is actually up 6.5%, but I put this down to the release of slightly better-than-expected results rather than this news story. The fact that Quinn has abruptly left does concern me. He could have...