With so much doom and gloom surrounding the investment banking sector, it might have come as a surprise that JP Morgan’s investment bank last week published first-quarter results that were among its best so far.

Under chief executive Jamie Dimon, the US investment bank brought in $2.4bn in net profits during the first quarter, nearly matching its record performance in the first quarter of last year, helped by record fees from debt underwriting of $971m, up 33% on last year, and a 41% increase in advisory fees, which rose to $429m.