Investment bankers earn a median base salary of $175K, the highest of the eight industries compared in The Aussie Corporate 2026 Salary Survey. They also work the longest weeks of those eight industries. 66% of people in investment banking work 45 hours or more.
How does investment banking pay compare with other industries?
Investment Banking sits well clear at the median. Finance and Tech come next at $150K each, then Law at $147K and Corporate at $145K.
The hours set it apart even more. 66% of investment bankers work 45 hours or more a week. In Law it is 47%, in Finance 23% and in Tech 20%.
Is investment banking worth it per hour?
Hour for hour, Resources out-pays Investment Banking. 80% of Resources staff work 45 hours or less a week, and 87% get an annual bonus.
Across the whole survey, long weeks pay less for each hour worked. A 60-hour week pays 20% less per hour than a 40-hour week.
Median base pay does climb with hours, to a peak of $200K for people working 55 to 60 hours a week. At 60 hours or more it falls back to $181K, and 89% of people in that group rate their stress at 4 or 5 out of 5.
Can investment bankers work from home?
Barely. No one in Investment Banking works from home 3 or more days a week.
31% work from home on no days at all, 24% work from home one day a week and 45% work from home two days. Across the whole survey, 35% work from home 3 or more days.
| Finance employer | Work from home 3+ days a week |
|---|---|
| Insurance | 56% |
| Super and Asset Management | 45% |
| Other banks | 41% |
| Big 5 banks | 31% |
| Investment Banking | 0% |
| Survey average | 35% |
Share of staff who work from home 3 or more days a week, by type of finance employer, from The Aussie Corporate 2026 Salary Survey.
Do the big banks pay more than other finance employers?
Early on, yes. The Big 5 banks pay about 14% more than other finance employers for people in their first 5 years.
The edge shrinks with time. It is 8% at 5 to 10 years and 2% after 10 years.
Nearly half of Big 5 bank staff hold shares in their bank. At every stage of a career, Big 5 staff are also more likely to have sat at the same level for 3 years or more.
31% of Big 5 bank staff say their pay is unfair. Across employer types the median is 32%.
Which finance jobs have the most flexibility?
Insurance has the most days at home in finance. 56% of Insurance staff work from home 3 or more days a week, and only 3% are in the office every day.
Insurance pay sits level with everyone else once you compare people with the same years of experience.
Super and Asset Management follows at 45%, ahead of other banks at 41% and the Big 5 banks at 31%.
Do bankers get bonuses?
Most do. Only 11% of people in Banking and Finance have no annual bonus, the lowest of the seven industries in our bonus results. Across the whole survey, 1 in 3 people receive no bonus.
A bonus scheme is no promise of a payout. Across the survey, 7 in 10 people do not achieve their target bonus.
How do you check your own pay?
Compare your salary with people in the same job, industry and level in AusCorp Vault, our free salary benchmark.
The original slides for banking, insurance and every other industry are on our 2026 Salary Survey page under by industry. The first part of the survey, 10 things nobody tells you about your pay, covers pay by experience, city and hours.
More from the 2026 Salary Survey
- How much do Big 4 consultants earn in Australia?
- How much do corporate lawyers earn in Australia?
- What is a typical bonus in Australia?
- Which corporate jobs pay well with low stress?
Source: The Aussie Corporate 2026 Salary Survey, data as at September 2026. Spotted an error? Correct something.
