As the equity divisions of banks face “death by a thousand cuts”, the knife is falling disproportionately on traders and sales traders, according to headhunters.

But research functions have been well-protected, according to market participants, as those banks with bulging equity capital markets pipelines are keen to ensure that their research divisions are ready to play their part in those deals, as and when the market reopens. Trading and sales trading are also suffering from an increase in electronic trading, compared with the voice broking in which they specialise, and anaemic volumes.