Kotak Mahindra Bank is in the throes of a leadership change

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Editor's note: Kotak Mahindra Bank is at a crossroads. Its founder and CEO of 20 years, Uday Kotak, is stepping away from his executive role at the end of the year. But with no succession plan announcement yet, the question of who takes the helm at India’s fourth largest private sector bank remains up in the air. That uncertainty is playing out in the tepid performance of its shares. The Kotak Mahindra Bank stock, in the last year, has gained just 2% when shares of most of its peers as well as the Nifty Private Bank index have turned in double-digit growth. Also, the bank’s stock is trading at a discount—its price-to-earnings multiple stands at 26.06 as of Thursday, below the sector’s average of 26.30. “There has been an overhang on the bank’s stocks for one year due to succession planning. For now everyone is keenly watching it, as it would decide the direction the bank would be steered from here,” says the chief investment officer of a fund house, asking not to be named. Clearly, investors continue to wait for signals. …