Paloma hires investment director from Kennedy Wilson

Jake Harris was head of industrial at Kennedy Wilson

• What Paloma Capital recruits Jake Harris from Kennedy Wilson as investment director
• Why He will work on sourcing value-add deals across sectors
• What next The fund manager plans to launch its next fund later this year

Paloma Capital has hired Kennedy Wilson’s head of UK industrial Jake Harris as investment director, React News can reveal.

Harris has been at Kennedy Wilson for the past eight years, most recently focusing on the industrial and logistics sector. Before that, he worked at Deutsche Bank and Cushman & Wakefield. 

At Paloma, which is an independent UK real estate manager owned by Joe Froud and Jack Pitman, Harris will work on sourcing new deals across different sectors. In recent years, he has worked on a number of complex value-add deals, including the purchase of Brighton City Airport last year.

Froud said: “I have known Jake since 2013. He’s a very smart investor and I’m really excited that he has chosen to join Paloma.” 

Harris joins as the fund manager prepares to launch its fourth UK fund later this year, having largely invested its previous value-add fund.

Pitman said: “We have a lot of capital to deploy right now and Jake brings new ideas and contacts at a very important time for the business.”

Earlier this year, Paloma sold its Purdey industrial portfolio to Partners Group for £253m. As part of the deal, Paloma was retained to manage and co-invest in the portfolio, and a further £200m will be deployed over the next two years to expand it.