A wide-ranging coalition of institutional investors has called on companies and regulators in the US to curb excessive executive pay. Resolutions have been filed at the boards of 44 companies accused of paying for failure.

The signatories include Hermes Pensions Management, the UK asset manager that runs the £36bn (€54bn) BT pension fund, the New York City Employees' Retirement System, five other union pension funds and an array of faith groups.