Top HSBC investor offers support to Knight Vinke
* LGIM becomes first major investor to support Knight
* Chambers offers praise for Knight's work in bank sector
* HSBC has rebuffed new approaches at recent meetings-source
By Raji Menon
LONDON, June 17 (Reuters) - The largest shareholder in HSBC (HSBA.L: Quote, Profile, Research) has offered for the first time public support for activist investor Eric Knight and urged the bank to answer questions he has raised over the bank's strategy.
Knight Vinke, the activist investment firm run by Knight, has been pressing HSBC management anew to conduct a wholesale strategic review of the business, and has raised questions over directors' bonuses and its U.S. business.
"Eric has asked some very sensible questions, well at least some of his questions are sensible, and the market deserves a response," said Legal & General Investment Management chief executive Peter Chambers.
"Eric has done more work for the banking industry than anybody else I know," he told journalists at a briefing. Continued...
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