Pension Corporation (PC) is the brainchild of Edmund Truell, who is widely regarded as one of the brightest and wealthiest venture capitalists in the City. His tenure as the founder and former chief executive of Duke Street Capital Group was particularly lucrative.

Between 1994 and 2005 it grew to more than £1.5 billion and the firm had one of the most complete exit records of any mid-market European buyout investor. It was sold to Babson Capital in 2004 for an undisclosed sum. Mr Truell, 45, said: “I have a lifetime of experience in private equity and am very committed to optimising the value of companies.” The business model for his most recent venture is simple. PC buys companies to win control on their pension funds.

It has already applied the formula to the Threshers off-licence chain and the old Thorn TV rentals group and is also stakebuilding in Aga, the stove maker.

But some feel that Mr Truell has gone too far with his latest aquisition of Telent, the telecoms equipment company that is the remnants of Marconi, and, before that, GEC. It remains the sponsor of one of the country’s biggest pension funds, worth £2.5 billion. PC has got off to a bad start by failing to keep the trustees updated.

Backed up by heavy-hitters on the board, including younger brother Danny, head of investments at the Wellcome Trust charity, and Sir Martin Jacomb, former chairman of Prudential, it remains to be seen if this will have a lasting impact on Mr Truell’s thus far glittering career.

Mr Truell is a trustee of the Galapagos Conservation Trust and is a former chairman of the British Venture Capital Association. He is married with four children and often spends weekends in the New Forest.