Wellington, Aug 18 NZPA - Activist fund manager Simon Botherway took up his first directorship of a public company in controversial circumstances this week.

His appointment to Fisher and Paykel Appliances' board was presented to shareholders at the annual meeting on Monday without warning and without a vote and shareholders rose to their feet to say it was offensive.

Mr Botherway is a new face in the boardroom at a time of criticism that the so-called pool of directors in New Zealand is too small, too old and too clubby.

Mr Botherway, who himself has stood up at meetings to berate boards, said it was fair enough for shareholders to question his appointment.

"I'm very much for shareholder democracy and shareholder activism.

"I think the concerns that people raised were valid and they had every right to say them."

F&P Appliances' shareholders have had to recapitalise the company and go without a dividend this year.

Mr Botherway said F&P Appliances' had taken a risk in appointing a fund manager to its board.

"As a fund manager we always encouraged companies to cast the net widely and look for qualities and skill sets not necessarily associated with people who have six to seven other directorships."

Mr Botherway said his skills were in understanding capital allocation, in understanding the numbers and the implications of the numbers.

"There are some areas where I bring practically nothing to the table, including, for example, manufacturing processes".

He said the opportunity to join the F&P Appliances' board was interesting from several perspectives.

"It is a company that has gone through some pretty tough times. It has some interesting prospects with the Haier relationship."

Chinese company Haier became a 20 percent shareholder in F&P Appliances during this year's recapitalisation and has two seats in the boardroom.

"It is not the easiest company you could take on. It is a small player in a large global market dominated by scale players," Mr Botherway said.

Mr Botherway is still under a restraint of trade after he left the Brook Asset Management along with Paul Glass. Both are highly regarded fund managers. Mr Botherway will not say if this is the start of a new career as a company director or if he sees opportunities in the funds management industry. He does not currently have any other directorships under consideration.