The number of UK companies dressed down by shareholders for egregious executive pay and other governance offences ticked up again last year, according to figures from the Investment Association — and early figures for 2020 suggest another fractious year could be in store.

The trade body for the fund management sector said it put 158 companies on its corporate governance watchlist during 2019, accounting for a quarter of all businesses in the FTSE All Share. That was a pick-up on 151 during 2018, and 144 the year before that.