Puma Property Finance has announced the appointment of Dee Korab as its new head of impact.
With more than 12 years of experience in global banking and real estate finance across Australia and the UK, she will be responsible for leading the continued development and expansion of Puma’s Impact Lending Framework (ILF) and its broader ESG strategy.
Korab joins Puma from Sparkd, the consultancy she founded to help major UK lenders and organisations such as the Green Finance Institute advance sustainable finance practices.
Her earlier career included senior roles at HSBC, National Australia Bank and ANZ Bank, where she worked in origination and credit risk, including as a director in HSBC’s real estate finance team and sustainability lead for the division.
She holds certificates in Green & Sustainable Finance and Climate Risk and is currently completing the Global Real Estate Leaders Program jointly run by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Maastricht University.
In her new role, Korab will oversee Puma’s Impact Lending Framework, which encourages property developers to adopt higher sustainability standards and socially beneficial measures.
Under the framework, qualifying developments can receive up to a 1% reduction in finance costs once projects are completed.
In its first year, the ILF registered £145m of development loans across sectors including care homes, purpose-built student accommodation and life sciences, with projects spanning from North Yorkshire to Devon.
Paul Frost, managing director of Puma Property Finance, said: “We’re delighted to welcome Dee Korab as our new head of impact.
“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.
“Her leadership will be instrumental as we invest further in our Impact Lending Framework and broader ESG initiatives across the Puma Capital Group.
“I’d also like to extend my sincere thanks to our previous head of impact, Sarah Milne, whose vision and dedication were central to the creation and launch of the ILF.
“Sarah’s work has laid a strong foundation for our impact strategy, and we’re incredibly proud of what she’s helped us achieve.”
Dee Korab, head of impact at Puma Property Finance, said: “I’m delighted to join Puma at such an exciting time for the business.
“Puma already has a market leading approach to sustainable and social impact lending in its Impact Lending Framework.
“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.”
