Back to AGM showdowns now and my colleague Julia Kollewe has been at the Schroders AGM today, where shareholders registered their frustration with the elevation of former chief executive Michael Dobson, who ran the investment firm for more than 14 years, to chairman.

Julia reports:

Nearly 15% voted against Dobson’s re-election, and almost 12% voted against Lord Howard of Penrith, the senior independent director who oversaw the move.



Hermes, which represents pension funds and had urged other investors to oppose Dobson’s promotion, voted against both.

It is a sizeable protest vote, given that the Schroders family owns 48% of the shares. Some 4% of investors voted against the firm’s remuneration report.

At the meeting in London, Lord Howard said the company was aware that it was breaching corporate governance guidelines by making Dobson chairman, but defended his promotion. “We thought he was such a good and such an obvious candidate,” he said.

One of the biggest fund managers in the City, Schroders had consulted its 10 largest investors, and “overall we received considerable, a lot of support” although he admitted that there were “some shareholders who had concerns”. Howard said the company would continue to talk to them.

Royal London Asset Management voted against Schroders’ pay policy and the appointment of Dobson as chair. Its corporate governance manager Ashley Hamilton Claxton said: “Although Mr Dobson was successful in leading the company as CEO, his appointment as chairman is inappropriate and in clear violation of the corporate governance code.”

