August Equity appoints two female execs

London-based firm August Equity has made two female senior appointments to its investment team.

Katie Beck joins as director, while Kate Cook has been appointed manager.

In a newly-created role, Beck will oversee asset management, which includes monitoring the firm’s 12 portfolio companies, operational improvements, developing exit strategies and refinancing, the firm said.

Beck was previously a principal at Darwin Private Equity from 2008, and before that an associate at Doughty Hanson from 2005 to 2008, according to her LinkedIn profile. She is a non-executive director at Bromford Industries.

Cook joins the firm from Deloitte and will focus on execution and transactional work, the firm said.

The firm is currently investing August Equity Partners III, a 2013-vintage, £200 million ($307 million; €261 million) fund. Its limited partners include the Merseyside Pension Fund, Partners Group and Coller Capital, according to PEI’s Research & Analytics division.

In June the firm, through its portfolio company Funeral Services Partnership, acquired a portion of UK funeral services provider Laurel Funerals from a consortium led by Doughty Hanson, as reported by Private Equity International.

The firm invests £10-30 million in UK companies in the technology services, business services, healthcare and education sectors, according to its website.

Industry association Invest Europe estimates that only 5 percent of management level staff at both general partners and limited partners are female. In September, a group of female private equity professionals set up advocacy group Level 20 with the goal to raise this number to 20 percent by 2020, as reported by PEI.