Investment banking is beginning to look healthy again. According to Thomson Reuters, global IB fees for the first half of 2014 totalled US$47 billion, an 11.6 per cent rise on the first six months of 2013.Similarly, Australia's local investment bankers had a solid start to 2014, earning US$1.1 billion, a rise of almost 25 per cent over their combined payday a year ago.Activity headed upwards across the board, with Australian equity capital markets raising A$17.5 billion for the bankers' corporate clients in the first half of calendar year 2014. This was a 128 per cent increase from total proceeds in the same period last year, based on numbers from Thomson Reuters. Issuance from energy and power companies totalled A$3.6 billion, or 21 per cent of the market.Likewise, Australian IPO volume totalled A$4.9 billion from 19 transactions this year, the highest first half proceeds since 2007. Follow-on offerings this year reached A$12.6 billion from 213 deals, registering a 92 per cent increase in volume from the first six months of 2013.Total fees earned by investment bankers from Australian ECM deals to date have reached A$392 million, a 131 per cent increase on the first six months of 2013, according to estimates by Thomson Reuters/Freeman Consulting. The top bookrunner for Australian offerings, Goldman Sachs, earned an estimated $63 million in fees, ahead of Citi ($33 m), UBS($48 m), Macquarie Group ($46 m) and Morgan Stanley ($44m).The leading bookrunners in NZ and the fees earned were: UBS (US$10.9m), First NZ Capital (US$8.1m) Credit Suisse/First NZ Capital (US$5.8m), Deutsche Craig (US$3.5m) and Macquarie Group (US$1.9m).