Amid all the doom and gloom around investment banking, one could be forgiven for wondering what the future holds for the industry. It is striking therefore that by one measure at least, European investment banks are actually more profitable now than they were prior to the crisis.

In a note titled Many Sad Returns published Monday, Barclays Capital analysts led by Simon Samuels and Mike Harrison examined the divisional performance of Europe's 15 largest banks to identify which have the greatest scope for rebuilding return on assets.