Stan O’Neal, the first big-name casualty of the credit crunch, is considering joining Vision Capital Advisors, a small hedge fund and private equity group, which would mark a return to the financial industry for the former chief executive of Merrill Lynch.

People close to the situation said Mr O’Neal, who left Merrill a year ago with an estimated pay-out of $160m, was looking at a number of options in addition to Vision and had not yet made up his mind.