The Church Investors Group has warned some of Britain’s biggest companies it intends to take a hard line on executive pay, gender diversity and climate change over the forthcoming annual meeting season. The group, which represents church organisations with combined investment assets of about £17bn, has told companies listed on the FTSE 350 index it will refuse to re-elect directors at firms failing to make sufficient progress in key areas...

The group’s members have invested in companies including Tesco, Royal Dutch Shell, AstraZenca and HSBC...

[T]he CIG said its members would vote against executive pay packages where pay ratios are not disclosed [...] or where financial services or pharmaceutical companies do not pay the living wage...

Stephen Beer, chief investment officer... [said the] "new policy will enable us to send a clear signal to companies... We encourage the wider investment community to hold directors accountable and ensure more responsible stewardship on this critical subject.”