The Men Who Run SABMiller

LONDON -- Management can make all the difference to a company's success and thus its share price.

The best companies are those run by talented and experienced leaders with strong vested interests in the success of the business, held in check by a board with sound financial and business acumen. Some of the worst investments to hold are those run by executives collecting fat rewards as the underlying business goes to pot.

In this series, I'm assessing the boardrooms of companies within the FTSE 100. I hope to separate the management teams that are worth following from those that are not. Today I am looking at SABMiller (LSE: SAB), the world's second-largest brewery group.

Here are the key directors:

SABMiller's unusual executive structure is a temporary measure. Graham MacKay has stepped up from being CEO to serving as executive chairman the 12 months before taking on the non-executive chairmanship next year. At that time, COO Alan Clark will step up to become CEO.

Transition
The transition from a CEO to chairman offends against the combined code on corporate governance, which at least requires the company to justify such a move. SABMiller's explanation is somewhat thin: simply that because of his long service, Graham MacKay is the best man for the job. However, the company's two largest shareholders who control 40% of the shares gave their pre-approval, and investors have had a pretty good run with Mackay.

Together with former chairman, Meyer Khan, he floated the former South African Breweries in 1999, serving as CEO for 13 years during which time the business expanded globally to become the second-largest brewery group in the world.

Big boots
That leaves big boots for Alan Clark to fill. A former clinical psychologist and psychology lecturer, he joined the company in 1990 as training and development manager, subsequently working his way up through the ranks in South Africa and Europe. As managing director of Europe he was seen as an obvious internal candidate for CEO, but there is clearly a risk he will be overshadowed by Mackay.

There is at least some relatively fresh blood in Jamie Wilson, who joined the company in 2005 becoming CFO in 2011. Prior to that he held a number of finance and executive roles within the drinks industry. A chartered accountant, at SABMiller he continued to oscillate between finance and managerial roles, including acting as finance director for the European division.

SABMiller's 13 non-execs include five representatives of the Altria group and two representatives of BevCo, the two large shareholders acquired during the company's acquisition history. The six independent directors have a mix of backgrounds with appropriate sensitivity to the company's South African heritage. Cyril Ramaphosa, former secretary general of the African National Congress, has been a non-exec since the listing.

I analyze management teams from five different angles to help work out a verdict. Here's my assessment:

Overall, SABMiller scores 17 out of 25, a middling result. Performance has been excellent under the tenure of the long-standing former CEO and chairman, but the arrangements for management succession have yet to be tested.

I've collated all my FTSE 100 boardroom verdicts on this summary page. I hope it helps with your analysis.

Buffett's favorite FTSE share
Let me finish by adding that legendary investor Warren Buffett has always looked for impressive management teams when pinpointing which shares to buy. So I think it's important to tell you that the billionaire stock-picker has recently acquired a substantial stake in a prominent FTSE 100 company.

A special free report from The Motley Fool -- "The One U.K. Share Warren Buffett Loves" -- explains Buffett's purchase and investing logic in full.

And Buffett, don't forget, rarely invests outside his native United States, which to my mind makes this British blue chip -- and its management -- all the more attractive. So why not download the report today? It's totally free and comes with no further obligation.

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