Imagine you are sitting with an M&A banker, an equities banker, and a fixed income banker, talking about the Olympic Games. In the time it takes you to drink one Martini, could you tell what each banker did for a living?

One senior European banker said: "The M&A is easy to spot. He is the one with the very big ego and wants his name associated with everything. You might take longer to find out the equities and fixed income bankers. They are a bit more complex."