It takes a lot for Deutsche Bank's head of global markets, Anshu Jain, to put his name to a venture. So few could have predicted that pension liabilities, the bane of corporate Britain, would catch his eye as a sweet spot in a £400bn (€590bn) market on the brink of change.

Yet Deutsche Bank, with Eton Park International, a hedge fund, has committed £500m to Paternoster, the new company targeting pension liabilities established by Mark Wood, the former chief executive of UK insurance company Prudential.