LONDON, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Standard Life Investments hasconcerns about governance at Sports Direct andVolkswagen and will press for more change at thecompanies, it said in its annual governance report on Wednesday.
Mike Ashley's role as executive deputy chairman of retailerSports Direct was "ill-defined and did not seem to reflect thereality of his influence at the company," Standard LifeInvestments (SLI) said, adding it had "major concerns" about thefirm's remuneration policy.
At Volkswagen, SLI said "increased board independence iscrucial to rebuilding trust" in the company.
Both companies were marked as "escalation candidates" in theinvestor's report, indicating it planned to ask for more changesin the way they are run.
However, SLI said it had been influential in achievingchange at WPP, the world's largest advertising agency.
"We were reassured that progress had been made, both in theownership of the succession planning process by the board, ledby the chairman, and the process itself." (Reporting by Carolyn Cohn. Editing by Andrew MacAskill)
WPP (WPP)
