Global funds management giant rejects Scott Morrison's attack on activist investors

Exclusive: Aberdeen Standard Investments defends role of environmental groups including Market Forces

Global funds management giant Aberdeen Standard Investments has rejected prime minister's Scott Morrison's call for companies to listen to "quiet shareholders" as part of a comprehensive rebuff of the government's attack on activist investors and the environmental movement.

The UK's biggest listed fund manager, which controls assets worth more than 550bn, also defended the role of environmental groups including Market Forces, which has been accused by the attorney general, Christian Porter, of pressuring companies through "widespread, co-ordinated harassment and threats of boycotts".