Future fixtures in the fat cat fight

HSBC, Tesco and ICI are among the next targets for shareholder activists following this week's historic pay defeat at Glaxo.

Banking group HSBC faces a revolt over a £37m pay deal for new board member William Aldinger, amid concerns about his unquantifiable payoff should he lose his job as head of its newly acquired subsidiary Household International.

Although investor bodies the Association of British Insurers and the National Association of Pension Funds have cleared the company's pay policy, City investors are considering ignoring their views and registering protest votes at the bank's annual meeting on May 30.

According to pay monitoring group Pirc, Mr Aldinger's contract contains so many indeterminate factors it is not possible to say how much it would cost to sack him. His terms includes free dental care for life and use of the bank's corporate jet.

Although the NAPF advises members to support the remuneration policy, it raises a number of concerns including the case for the £20m payment he received when it took over Household.

HSBC said Mr Aldinger is a talented individual being paid in line with others.

The NAPF is also raising concerns about two-year contracts for directors at Tesco , including chief executive Terry Leahy. Tesco said: "We are surprised about this when we have delivered over the last few years."

At ICI 's annual meeting tomorrow, investors are waiting for information about any payoff for former chief executive Brendan O'Neill, ousted after a profits warning earlier this year.

On Friday, Pirc raises issues about the annual meetings taking place for Tomkins , where it says chief executive James Nicol has a substantial part of his pay not related to performance although notes that he had invested £2m in Tomkins shares.