Delta One desks – those that handle derivatives and synthetic trading – were singled out for special praise by several large banks last month for having boosted second-quarter equities revenues.

Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and BNP Paribas mentioned them in their interim reports, and recent hires to Delta One and ETFs teams by some of their rivals indicate this could be one unit that could produce a healthy, sustainable revenue stream while equity markets gyrate.