Financial services companies may be shedding staff and cutting costs in other areas but they are still prepared to pay well for performance.Management consulting firm the Hay Group issued its annual Australian Salary Movement Index yesterday, which shows that total annual rewards (base salary plus superannuation and short-term incentive payments) in financial services rose 5.7 per cent in the 12 months to February 2012.Financial services' remuneration grew ahead of that of the resources industry (up 5.5 per cent over the same period) and the broad industrial and services sector (up 4.9 per cent).Hay Group senior consultant Steven Paola, who wrote the report, said base salary levels in financial services increased by 3.9 per cent and are projected to increase by four per cent in the current year.Paola said: "The link between pay and performance is stronger in financial services than in any other sector. The figures show that, while the base rate increase is modest, employers are still prepared to pay good incentives."Bank employees were paid 10 per cent above the average salary in the 400 companies approached for the Hay survey. The only industries that pay a bigger premium are mining (20.6 per cent above the average), construction (18.8 per cent) and oil and gas (15.5 per cent).Within the financial services sector, employees of investment banks are the highest paid, receiving a premium of 24.5 per cent over the average salary.