Mitul Magudia was in his mid-20s when the actuary got an offer to join a London startup built for one main purpose: taking pension funds off companies’ balance sheets.

Back in the 2000s, the market for pension risk transfers was an eat-what-you-kill industry, and pickings were slim. Magudia worked days, nights and weekends convincing fund trustees that his fledgling firm, Pension Insurance Corp., could unshackle their companies from promises to pay guaranteed pensions to retired staff.