Cable pressures fund managers over boardroom activism

Business secretary Vince Cable has met with a group of top UK fund managers to demand they put more pressure on company boards to deliver better long-term value for shareholders and the UK.

The meeting, which included fund managers of major asset managers such as BlackRock, comes as the government steps up its efforts to shift attitudes to increase engagement with company boards and management, according to the Telegraph.  Cable has already accused the City and fund managers of having a blinkered focus on short-term profits. Last month, he launched a review led by academic John Kay to look at ways to ensure companies operate in the long-term interests of Britain's shareholders. At the time he said: "The financial crisis has raised justifiable concerns about whether th...