In mid-2009, as tens of millions of American families were struggling with unemployment, housing foreclosures, unaffordable healthcare, and lines at food pantries, Goldman Sachs - the nation’s leading investment bank - announced that record-breaking profits had returned and with them their past compensation levels. Reports estimated that upwards of $20 billion would be set aside for compensation of the company’s 33,000 employees - an historic average of over $600,000 per person.

Spiraling executive compensation has long been a concern of faith-based and socially responsible investors and, more recently, of major institutional investors such as state pensions and large investment funds. The major banks and Wall Street firms frequently head the list of super-size payouts, with top executives regularly taking home more than $30- , $40- or even $60 million a year - often regardless of their firm’s own fiscal performance.

MMA Praxis Mutual Funds joined The Ethical Funds Company of Canada in filing a first-of-its-kind resolution at Goldman Sachs in December 2009, citing both moral and fiduciary concerns for such a massive payout amidst the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression. Three other compensation-related resolutions were filed by shareholders and public statements of outrage included President Obama, Treasury Secretary Geithner and members of Congress.

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