The three leading managers at Hermes, one of the UK's leading corporate governance activists, have collected a total of £21.3m ($39.5m) in pay and bonuses over the past five years.

Peter Butler, head of corporate governance, David Pitt-Watson, managing director, and Steve Brown, managing director of investments, picked up a total of £5.4m in salaries and bonuses last year while the BT pension fund, their biggest client, remained £5bn in the red.