Prudential's crunch shareholder meeting on Thursday, where Fidelity International and other investors are expected to lodge a protest vote against chairman Harvey McGrath, will be the culmination of a UK proxy season in which shareholders have been prepared to rebuke management - but have not yet inflicted a substantial defeat on them.

At Prudential, McGrath is set to face the music over the UK insurer's abortive bid for Asian rival AIA in 2009. The outcome is uncertain, with the company reportedly briefing that it expects a protest vote of 10% to 20%, while shareholders - few of whom will ever go "on the record" with journalists - seem split.