UPDATE: Miller Tabak Downgrades Willis Group Holdings to Sell on Leadership Change

Miller Tabak reduced its rating on Willis Group Holdings WSH from Hold to Sell as the company's long-serving CEO steps down in January. Miller Tabak said, "A transition in a corporate culture created by a charismatic leader inherently carries with it fairly high odds of hitting rocky ground before things smooth out. When we compound that event at Willis – long serving CEO Joe Plumeri stepping down as of January -- with a persistent under performance of the business model over the past 15 months, we are left with the prospect that the business model may require re-engineering under new leadership in the midst of an operating environment that already may be testing the morale of the core insurance brokerage force." Willis Group Holdings closed at $35.21 on Tuesday.