The vultures are hungry. Distressed debt funds, which buy the debt of bankrupt and troubled companies, are eager to acquire more financial assets. There is plenty of debt around but the world – the financial world, at least – is short of distress.

One of these days, the credit cycle will turn and some of the companies that have had debt piled on to them in leveraged buy-outs will default. Many institutions, even private equity firms, are even now spreading their bets by raising distressed debt funds and hiring bankers who specialise in corporate restructuring.