Puma Property Finance names Dee Korab new Head of Impact

Puma Property Finance has announced the appointment of Dee Korab as its Head of Impact.

She has over 12 years of experience in global banking and real estate finance across Australia and the UK. She spent over a decade at HSBC, National Australia Bank and ANZ Bank in both origination and credit risk roles, including as a Director in HSBC’s real estate finance team and sustainability lead for the business.

Immediately prior to joining Puma, Dee founded and ran Sparkd, a specialist consultancy supporting major UK lenders and leaders such as the Green Finance Institute to advance sustainable finance measures. She holds certificates in Green & Sustainable Finance and Climate Risk and is currently undertaking an executive Global Real Estate Leaders Program run jointly by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Maastricht University.

“Dee brings a wealth of experience in sustainable real estate finance and her appointment reflects our continued commitment to being both a market leader and a thought leader in impact lending”, said Paul Frost, Managing Director, Puma Property Finance. “Her leadership will be instrumental as we invest further in our Impact Lending Framework and broader ESG initiatives across the Puma Capital Group.”

Dee will lead on the continued development and expansion of Puma’s market-leading Impact Lending Framework (ILF) which incentivises property developers to adopt stretching sustainability measures and genuine socially impactful projects. Developments that qualify for an Impact Loan can benefit from up to a 1% reduction in their cost of finance, with the benefit paid at the conclusion of the project to ensure the Framework delivers real, tangible impact.

In its first year of operation in 2024, the ILF registered £145 million of development loans targeting qualification under the scheme. The loans cover a range of sectors including care homes, PBSA and life sciences and are located across the UK from North Yorkshire to Devon.

Beyond the Impact Lending Framework, Dee will lead on Puma’s wider impact lending activities and the Group’s ESG initiatives.

“Puma already has a market leading approach to sustainable and social impact lending in its Impact Lending Framework”, said Dee Korab. “I’m looking forward to further developing our impact strategy – and yes, I’ll be using that word often – to solidify Puma’s position as an industry leader in the space. My focus will be on ensuring we deliver meaningful, measurable outcomes for our clients, our investors and in the buildings and communities to which we deploy capital. There’s a huge opportunity to lead the market in demonstrating that ambitious social and sustainability standards and strong financial performance are fully aligned.”