“For every fool that pulls out of investment banking, there’s another one waiting to take their place” is an adage coined by a US investment banker based in Europe in the late 1990s, as dozens of banks jostled with each other to build up investment banking operations and almost as many failed to do so.

In a post-crisis world in which regulatory reforms, increased capital requirements and economic uncertainty threaten to cripple the traditional high-margin investment banking model, these words seem as apt as ever. While investment banking no longer holds the allure of a 25% return on equity in perpetuity, few banks are yet prepared to throw in the towel or make radical changes to their model.