Peter Butler and Steve Brown, the two founders of Hermes Focus Asset Management, the investment group, have resigned after a boardroom clash over ownership of the business and pay.

The pair were looking for an equity stake in the business as part of a pay deal but were blocked by the board of Hermes Pensions Management, the firm's parent company, which manages money for many of the UK's largest corporate pension funds. Last year Butler and Brown shared a £5.4m (€8.07m) pay package with colleague David Pitt-Watson.