BANGALORE: It’s one year since NR Narayana Murthy was forced out of his retirement to try and revive the sagging fortunes of the $8.2-billion IT behemoth Infosys . There was an initial euphoria. But it looks like the real celebrations will have to wait, if at all.India’s second-largest IT services company is battling an unprecedented exodus of senior executives, and it has got worse as it now hunts for its first non-founder CEO, with incumbent SD Shibulal stepping down by January next year.Investors who showed confidence when Murthy spelt out a three-year turnaround plan are today worried.Shareholder activist Anil Singhvi said BG Srinivas’s exit had jolted investors. Srinivas, the latest to exit, was president of the company and a man who many saw as the leading contender for the CEO position. “Whatever Murthy may say in his letters (assuring employees and investors), there is much to be desired in Infosys. In the last three to four months, the company’s stock price has dropped from the Rs 3,500 levels to Rs 2,900. The way the markets have been reacting to the Modi factor, one should have seen the Infosys stock price at the Rs 4,000 level,” Singhvi said.He said the genesis of what’s happening now is the re-entry of Murthy. “Bringing his son along with him was Murthy’s biggest mistake. Many investors at that time were apprehensive but didn’t speak out. People in the management who were in the company for 10 to 15 years have quit. At the end of the day, what is the difference between the Gandhi family and the promoters of Infosys? How long do the promoters want to sit at the helm of the company?” he asked.Shriram Subramanian, founder and MD of independent proxy advisory and governance research firm InGovern, said the departure of several top executives, especially during the CEO selection process, was a concern. “Investors’ broader concerns relate to leadership development and succession planning,” he said, and added that several FIIs and one large Indian institutional investor, who he declined to name, had raised concerns about the CEO selection process.Infosys is one of the few, if not the only Indian listed company, where FIIs hold a 42.1% stake and domestic institutional investors hold 13.66% stake. The promoter group holds only 15.94% and retail investors hold 28.3%.Some of the big institutional investors owning stakes in Infosys include LIC (3.25%), Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (2.54%), Oppenheimer Developing Markets Fund (2.52%), Government of Singapore (2.22%), and Aberdeen Global Indian Equity — Mauritius (1.17%).Amit Tandon, MD of Institutional Investor Advisory Services (IIAS), said investors expect some degree of stability and certainty. “Infosys has seen many high-profile exits that has caused concern among investors. But investors are not in a hurry to exit the company. Having said that, Infosys’ performance has lagged its peers and that has caused a bigger concern. Investors understand that leadership transition does not happen overnight and they will give it time to progress in the direction that Murthy has set in motion for the company.”Subramanian said the promoters should opt out of executive and non-executive roles and should not even be on the board. “Such a step would be bold, but will at least make the company a truly widely-held company with no promoter on its board,” he said.Infosys is scheduled to hold its AGM on June 14. Many will be watching to see whether the management will say anything about these investor concerns on that day.