Investment banks have launched a hiring drive for equity analysts, who were among the staff at the forefront of redundancy programmes during the financial crisis. The rise in hiring comes despite an uncertain outlook for cash equities trading, which is likely to lead to only lacklustre revenues this year.

Royal Bank of Scotland plans to hire around 15 research analysts this year, having already hired 15 analysts since September, according to a source familiar with the initiative. The bank is set to announce a handful of hires in the coming weeks.