Bankers at Barclays and Bank of America Merrill Lynch are calling a 20% rise in equity issuance next year, with one predicting 2013 could be the start of a ‘five-year cycle’ of increased ECM activity.

Global ECM issuance for the year-to-date totals $626.9bn, according to Dealogic, up on $614.bn over the same period a year ago, but investors have largely favoured bonds in 2012 with companies taking advantage of a vintage year for corporate debt issuance.