Puma Investments (“Puma”), the Investment Manager, is pleased to announce the appointment of Jessica Franks as its new Commercial Director.
Jessica is an accountant (ICAEW) and Chartered Tax Adviser (CIOT) with experience spanning asset management, HNW and private practice. Most recently, as Head of Investment Products at Octopus Investments, she led the development and management of retail products, including venture capital trusts and Business Relief-qualifying investments. As part of Octopus’s senior leadership team, she helped shape strategy and is widely recognised as a leading voice in the tax-efficient space. Jessica developed innovative and high quality customer content, earning top ratings in third party surveys and led industry engagements with think tanks, HM Treasury and the Chancellor’s office to shape favourable policy outcomes.
Jessica will play a critical role in growing Puma’s brand, industry connectivity, client engagement and innovative product design. She will also drive public affairs and work with Puma’s strategic partnership clients to deliver high quality thought leadership and technical resources for the changing needs of the financial advice and wealth management sector.
Her appointment follows a transformative year for the growth of Puma Investments, including new offices in Manchester and Edinburgh and significant investment in its people, and systems. It has strengthened its senior team, having appointed Jeremy Roberts as Managing Director who has brought considerable asset management experience, including 20 years at BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager.
Jeremy Roberts, Managing Director, Puma Investments, commented:
“We are thrilled to welcome Jessica to Puma Investments. Her exceptional knowledge of our sector and understanding of the market will be invaluable as we continue to strengthen our support for our clients and their financial advisers, wealth managers and private banks. Jessica’s appointment comes at a pivotal time for Puma, following a record fundraise and expansion across our business. I am excited to work with Jessica as we build on this momentum and drive further growth.”
Jessica Franks, Commercial Director, Puma Investments, added:
“I’m thrilled to be joining the team at Puma Investments. I thought carefully about my next challenge and I’m excited to be joining a sector specialist business during such a dynamic phase of growth. With solid foundations and a clear commitment to investing in the people who make success possible, Puma is exceptionally well positioned to play an even greater role in supporting financial advisers and their clients.”
Puma continues to invest in people and investment solutions to match the evolving needs of clients, working with the leading financial advisors and wealth managers in the UK. In the last fundraising period, our flagship Puma VCT 13 raised a further £55 million, marking our largest ever VCT fundraise. The VCT backs ambitious UK scale-up businesses that have proven market success, reducing the risks and volatility of investing at an earlier stage. Recent investments have included YASO, an operating system that enables global consumer brands to grow in the Chinese market and LOVE CORN, recognised as the UK’s fastest-growing snack brand.
Puma also launched the Puma AIM VCT, the first AIM-focused VCT to enter the market in 18 years, the VCT has already successfully deployed almost 30% of its funds into four established and growing AIM and AQSE-traded companies. In addition, Puma’s Heritage Estate Planning Service, an investment solution that aims to provide individual investors with 100% inheritance tax relief after 2 years by investing in private trading companies, recently surpassed £500m in size. Earlier this year, Puma Property Finance, the in-house team that supports the Puma Heritage Estate Planning Service unveiled a new strategic partnership with Madison International Realty, a leading institutional real estate private equity firm headquartered in New York.
