Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

The Shareholders' Association is vowing to get rid of ineffective directors it believes are holding office at the expense of investors.

The association is drawing up a list of directors it says should no longer sit on the board of any public company.

Top of the list is Greg Muir, former chairman of troubled Hanover Finance, who is currently chairman of children's clothing retailer Pumpkin Patch.

Others on the hit-list include Contact Energy deputy chairman Phil Pryke and Keith Smith, chairman of listed companies The Warehouse, PGG Wrightson, NZ Farming Systems Uruguay and Tourism Holdings.

Shareholders' Association chairman Bruce Sheppard says it plans to act at the next round of annual meetings.

Mr Sheppard says there are a number of directors of New Zealand public companies who seem to hang on against all adversity and against all odds to the positions that they hold.

The association intends to move motions for the removal of what Mr Sheppard calls "dead weights" in boards at every annual general meeting of every company that one of these people serves in.

The Shareholders' Association is determined to get rid of director who no longer add value for shareholders, he says.

Mr Muir, Mr Pryke and Mr Smith would not comment on the campaign to remove them as directors from listed companies.

Mr Sheppard says the association will finalise its plans its board meeting in December.