Along with shoppers’ preference for locally-grown vegetables one of the many trends that appear to have been accelerated by the pandemic is the slow death of voice broking.

For years the ranks of inter-dealer brokers have been in retreat before the march of the machines. Although they performed remarkably well working from home during the market mayhem of March and April, the phones went ominously quiet over the summer. Many observers now believe the aftermath of the pandemic will speed the loss of business to automated trading and algorithms, particularly in corporate bonds.