With global merger and acquisition activity still running well below historical averages, several smaller banks and boutique advisory firms continue to count on their restructuring and asset management businesses to keep their heads above water.

Ralph Schlosstein, chief executive of Evercore, said on Wednesday that the bank’s results reflected the “early stages of the recovery of the M&A markets”, although Lazard, one of Evercore’s competitors, said it would take four years for dealmaking activity to reach the highs of the prior period.