Cash equities traders and salespeople are among the most in demand talent for investment banks, with a large amount of hiring also taking place in back office roles such as risk management, accounting and product control, according to headhunters.

Andrew Davies, managing director of Morgan McKinley's financial services division, said: ""In the front office, we're seeing there is more demand for traders, and specifically within the trading side of things, it is on the vanilla products - cash equities and fixed income."