The annual shareholder meeting season is upon us. But while the scene is set for a series of fractious meetings between now and June, experts believe a more pre-emptive approach to negotiations by companies will calm the general mood.

It is perhaps not what had been expected after the UK government moved to give shareholders the whip hand in negotiations over executive pay, with a legally binding vote on companies' future remuneration policy taking effect this year. Last week, the European Commission announced its own plans to extend a similar binding "say on pay" across all countries in the EU.