BAE and Aviva are under fire over top pay

The Local Authority Pension Fund Forum has the aerospace giant BAE and insurance group Aviva in its sights as it battles for "reasonable" pay at top businesses.

The influential group is calling on its members to vote against the FTSE 100 companies' remuneration reports at their upcoming shareholder meetings amid concern over the total payouts executives could receive. The forum's chairman Kieran Quinn said: "We think it is important that companies carefully consider how the overall scale of reward will be viewed. Where we consider the potential rewards available are too great, we will advise our members to oppose."

Its move comes as it emerged that RSA Insurance is trying to head off a revolt at its annual meeting later this month. The insurer is holding talks with some of its major shareholders after being criticised for handing its chief executive Simon Lee a £1.5m pay package, including a £480,000 bonus, despite cutting its dividend.