March 29 (Reuters) - Proxy adviser Glass Lewis

recommended investors cast advisory votes against the pay of top

Goldman Sachs ( GS ) executives, citing the Wall Street bank's

"continued inability to align pay with performance" and

retention grants that Glass Lewis called excessive.

In a report sent late on Friday, Glass Lewis noted the combined

$160 million in retention awards the bank gave to CEO David

Solomon and President John Waldron in January.

"While we will review the impact of the additional $160

million on the Company's pay and performance alignment within

the full scope of 2025, thus far, the provided discussion

regarding the rationale in the proxy statement is far from

robust," Glass Lewis wrote in the report.

In a statement, a Goldman Sachs ( GS ) spokesperson responded:

"Competition for our talent is fierce. The Board took action to

retain our current leadership team, to sustain our firm's

momentum and maintain a strong succession plan. A 100% stock

based grant is fully aligned with long-term shareholder value

creation."