There is growing shareholder dissent to the decision to appoint Stuart Rose as executive chairman of Marks & Spencer (MKS). Fund manager Legal & General is reportedly opposing the appointment, meanwhile Schroders’ head of UK equities Richard Buxton attacked the decision in a newspaper interview published last weekend.

Legal & General holds about 4.6% of M&S while Schroders is said to own about 2% of the company. Brandes Investment Partners, which has a 6.6% stake, is said to be ‘unhappy’ with the appointment as is Fidelity, reportedly another big holder.

The decision to appoint Rose to executive chairman is in breach of the Combined Code on corporate governance which says the chairman and chief executive roles should be kept separate.

The move has also prompted the Association of British Insurers (ABI) to demand and explanation from M&S. A spokesman for the ABI, whose members collectively own about 20% of the UK equity market, said: ‘When the company came out with the original board changes there was no explanation. A lot of shareholders, through the ABI, have asked for an explanation.’

M&S announced on 10 March that current chairman Terry Burns would stand down on 1 June at which point Stuart Rose would take on the executive chairman role. M&S says Rose will stay with the company until July 2011 and ‘develop the future leaders of the business.’