Sir Richard sits on BG's remuneration committee

But one of the first targets of shareholder anger, Sir Richard Giordano, chairman of BG - formerly the international arm of British Gas - was re-elected to the BG board by a comfortable majority.

His �440,000 ($688,000) a year contract has been criticised by the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF), whose members hold about a quarter of the shares on the stock market.

The group advised shareholders to show their disapproval by abstaining on Sir Richard's re-election, but he was voted back on to the BG board on Tuesday afternoon.

There were nearly 1.5 billion votes in favour, 161 million against and 180 million abstentions. Most of the votes were by proxy and only three shareholders voted against the re-appointment at the AGM.

The NAPF objects to Sir Richard sitting on the company's remuneration committee and is unhappy that he is on a one-year contract, including a one-year notice period, when most non-executive chairmen receive a fee.

And, when he leaves BG he will be entitled to a payment to cover the cost of running an office, with a full-time secretary and chauffeur-driven car for five years.

Fighting off carpetbaggers

Sir Richard was not the only executive facing a shareholder challenge on Tuesday afternoon.

The insurer Standard Life was defending its executives' pay packages after six directors shared a �1.5m bonus last year at the same time as policyholders saw their returns fall.

Standard Life was also defending its mutual status from a challenge by one of its policyholders, David Stonebanks.

The chief executive told investors that only by keeping the society mutually owned would its performance improve in the long run.

Iain Lumsden said the board "unanimously believes" that keeping mutual status would be in the best interests of the company as a whole.

More companies can expect to be targeted by shareholders at their AGMs later in the week.

The NAPF and the other big shareholder group, the Association of British Insurers (ABI), say they are in favour of executives being rewarded for delivering value.

But they say they will vote against any remuneration policies that do not have a proper link to performance.

Lack of transparency

The chief executive of Barclays, Matt Barrett, will be targeted at his company's AGM on Thursday because of a deal that could see him pick up �4m if the bank is taken over and he is forced out.

Shell non-executive director, Sir Mark Moody-Stuart, can also expect a rough ride from some of his shareholders.

The NAPF objects to his appointment as a non-executive director because it says that, as a former group managing director of Shell, he is not independent.

And the group is recommending that members vote against Shell's remuneration policy because of its executive options and its lack of transparency.

Other companies whose AGMs are being targeted this week include Schroders, Wembley and Anglo-American.

The NAPF covers all of the FTSE 350 companies and says it will be recommending protest votes at about 10% of the AGMs.