As the Rolling Stones haul their creaking bones around a stage for the 44th consecutive year, many would argue that those battle-lined faces should be confined to barracks once and for all. But the huge audiences that greet them wherever they play suggest opinion is divided on the matter.

Likewise, Madonna’s constantly changing image keeps her fresh in the eyes of some while to her critics her credibility is reduced to zero.

Whether to change and evolve or maintain the status quo is an issue on which no two people can entirely agree. In business, change and how to affect it is the subject of millions of tortuous management hours. Even in an era of rapid technological and social change,conventional wisdom has it that stability is a proxy for credibility and quality.

But you only have to cast your eye towards Japan to realise how unwise it is to believe conventional wisdom. Until recently, the Japanese salaryman (typically an insurance or
investment bank employee) had a job for life, but that apparently stable model didn’t protectthe economy from 15 years of disastrous meltdown.

In fund management, Anthony Bolton at Fidelity, Neil Woodford at Invesco Perpetual and Roger Guy at Gartmore fly the flag for longevity and loyalty, and they have rewarded their firms and investors handsomely.

But there are many more that have kept their heads down at companies for 20 years or more without ever getting near an awards stage and who, if they had worked in certain other walks of life, might have been shown the door by now.

So what should investors be looking for – a fund manager who has worn out several seats and leather soles at a single investment house, or the manager whose CV resembles the Yellow Pages?

For the inside track on these matters, few are better qualified than headhunters. Executive search firms, as they prefer to be known, probably know fund managers and analysts better than anyone. After all, they get to hear the real reasons why they choose to stay with or leave their company.

Kirsty McAlpine, managing director of the London office of James Beck, has some sympathy for the ‘change is bad’ camp, saying there is sometimes good reason to view mobility with suspicion.

“Some fund managers move on because their performance has fallen off and they want to get out before it becomes obvious,” she says.