When the charismatic Gwyn Morgan struts away from EnCana Corp. after his final day as CEO, he will leave through the front door with his head held high.

Some might say too high.

But isn't that beside the point?

When you've been the chief architect in creating NorthAmerica's largest independent oil company and largest natural gas producer with a market cap that has swelled to $52 billion, you can afford to swagger - and at least the shareholders won't be complaining.

Gwyn Morgan

While EnCana shareholders have grown fond of Morgan's brash style and even fonder of that cocksure stock chart - EnCana shares are up about 240 per cent since Morgan spearheaded the merger of his Alberta Energy Co. (AEC) with PanCanadian Petroleum and have doubled this year alone - at least one of Morgan's old oilpatch sidekicks isn't so enamoured by this Made-in-Alberta success story.

Peter Linder, a Calgary hedge fund manager who was an energy economist at AEC in the late 1970s when Morgan was a lowly drilling engineer, believes Morgan's high profile as the face of EnCana has been a detriment to the company in terms of its perception by investors.

"I think the company will be represented better with his departure," Linder told the Edge after EnCana announced that Morgan would be retiring as CEO and handing the reins to chief operating officer Randy Eresman. "He (Morgan) is very egotistical. He acted like it was his company. I think it will be better managed now and it will be better perceived by investors. And life goes on."

Linder, energy strategist for DeltaOne Energy Partners, has also covered EnCana stock as a research analyst with Research Capital.

"He was always polite, pleasant and a very nice guy, but I just got to dislike his ego," says Linder, noting that he recently sold shares in EnCana from the DeltaOne Energy Fund he manages. "He's a good engineer and a good leader."

Morgan was not available for comment, but we do know he's not the biggest fan of hedge funds and did take a swipe at them and their impact on the stock market during the retirement press conference.

If you had the honour of owning shares in Nortel Networks or Enron or WorldCom or Tyco International or any of the other assorted stock market debacles, you probably don't have a problem with Morgan's ego.

Despite lukewarm third-quarter results (EnCana earned 30 cents per share or $266 million US), the guy's a winner. He's going out on top of his game, shareholders trust him to deliver the goods and, most importantly, he doesn't buy $8,000 US gold-and'-burgundy floral patterned shower curtains with shareholders' money (as Tyco International CEO Dennis Kozlowski did).

If Linder has a problem with Morgan's ego, one can't help wondering if the booming oilpatch has spoiled one whose energy hedge fund boasted an obscene one-year return of 178.5 per cent through September. Maybe Linder, who has been known to trumpet his own accomplishments, needs a fresh perspective by owning something, shall we say, more interesting such as Nortel.

While Morgan was expounding on the virtues of EnCana's slick succession plan at an impeccably timed retirement conference (it was the day of his 30th anniversary in the oilpatch), those bleary-eyed Nortel shareholders were wondering which foot would be shot next by the brass at the disgraced telecommunications company.

Accounting-challenged Nortel has been too busy trying to get its numbers straight in recent years to focus on a succession plan. So the company recently announced it was hiring former Motorola chief operating officer Mike Zafirovski as its new CEO to replace Bill Owens. Which was fine and dandy - until stockholders took another punch in the gut two days later when Motorola announced it was suing Zafirovski for breach of contract, putting his status in limbo.

At least with Morgan at the helm, EnCana shareholders could sleep at night and there's no reason to believe much will change at Canada's second-largest company with Eresman, a 25-year colleague of Morgan, in charge.

Glenn MacNeill, vice-president of investments at Sentry Select Capital, believes it'll be business as usual with the passing of the torch at EnCana.

"Clearly, Gwyn has had a major impact on the company," says MacNeill, whose firm owns EnCana in its energy fund.

The burning question is whether Morgan's departure cranks up the takeover rumour mill that had already been spinning over the prospects of a bid from Royal Dutch Shell. Morgan vehemently denies that anything had transpired concerning a takeover. Yet, when asked on Report On Business TV about the chances of a merger with another senior Canadian producer, he may have tipped his hand when he didn't answer the question directly, only saying he wasn't worried about a foreign takeover.

MacNeill believes the chances of a takeover are "less than 30 per cent.”

Of the Royal Dutch Shell rumour, he quips: "If Royal Dutch wants something, Royal Dutch gets it."

Josef Schachter, president of Schachter Asset Management, believes Morgan's departure enhances the chances of a takeover.

"It puts EnCana in play," says Schachter, who doesn't cover the company. "He didn't want to see his empire dismembered. Companies will likely be more willing to talk now. That makes EnCana more susceptible to a takeover."

"I think the likelihood of a takeover will be increased and I think investors will appreciate the new CEO," says Linder, who rates the chances of a takeover at about 25 per cent.

"Royal Dutch Shell is one possibility, or it could be BP or it could be a merger with Suncor. I think with him (Morgan) out of the way, the big ego problem is gone."

Of course, there are worse things than egos in corner offices these days. And you won't find too many shareholders complaining when the boss leaves through the front door with his head held high in broad daylight. Sure beats the heck out of those rascals who slink out the back door under the cover of night.

* WHOM CAN YOU TRUST? Like many fund managers, MacNeill is irked with the federal government over its review of the taxation advantages of income trusts that has cast a long shadow over the sector and left trust investors confused and bewildered.

"They (government) should keep their business to themselves and do a thorough job before they stumble out with half thought-out musings," pipes MacNeill, adding that his firm has a significant investment in trusts.

"I can see them taxing foreign investors. I would hope that they would level the playing field by maybe reducing taxes on corporations (income trusts pay no taxes) and reducing double taxation on dividends (for corporations)."

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(Gyle Konotopetz can be reached at gyle@businessedge.ca)