Merrill Lynch Analyst Joins Stryker
BY DAVID KRESSEL, FEBRUARY 15, 2007
Stryker today announced the appointment of Katherine Owens as Vice President, Strategy and Investor Relations. Katherine Owens made a name for herself (formerly Katherine Martinelli) as Merrill Lynch's orthopedics analyst for the past 8 years. She has been a regular on the Wall Street Journal's "Best on the Street" and Institutional Investor's annual rankings.
According to the press release, in her new role Owens will be responsible for "leading Stryker's strategic planning process, overseeing the Business Development function and driving strong alignment between the Company's mid- and long-term strategies and its external business development plans. Additionally, she will have responsibility for day-to-day Investor Relations activities."
It is unusual for analysts to move from a sell-side analyst role to a position at an operating company, especially not as CFO, though it does happen from time to time (see Chuck Phillips at Oracle). In this case, there appears to be a good fit, obviously on the investor relations side, and given Owens' demonstrated understanding of the ortho industry, she will be a strong contributor to strategy development.
