UK Investment Team

Pieter Hooft

Managing Director, UK Investments

Pieter is responsible for LMS Capital's investment activities. He has over 15 years investment experience in the UK and Europe with individual equity investments ranging from £3 – 50 million in both established and emerging companies. His sector experience comprises media, consumer, industrial, business services and technology/ internet. Prior investments include Vue Cinemas, Xerium SA, Nordsee GmbH, Infox GmbH, Vestolit AG, Wendeln AG, Kamps AG, Episode 1 Partners and Best People Limited. He is currently a member of the boards of 7 Global Limited, Entuity Limited, ITS Engineered Systems Inc and First Index Inc.

Pieter joined LMS Capital in November 2006. He previously worked at Apax Partners and JPMorgan Partners and has additional experience as chairman of Germany’s second largest chain of fitness clubs. Pieter is a Dutch national, and is fluent in French and German. He was educated in the Netherlands and HEC Paris.

Edward Snow

Director, UK Investments

Edward leads LMS Capital's UK technology investing. He has been involved with technology companies for most of his career, as both operator and investor. Selected prior investments include Clearswift Limited, Optos plc, TeraView Limited, GlySure Limited and PacketFront Sweden AB. At LMS Capital, he is responsible for portfolio companies AssetHouse Technology Limited and Corizon Limited.

Edward joined the Company in January 2007. Prior to that, he was at Amadeus Capital Partners, a technology venture capital firm, and at Deutsche Bank. He was also co-founder and Research Director of a start up in vehicle security and location systems. He has an MBA from INSEAD where he was a Sainsbury Management Fellow, and an MA and MEng from Cambridge University.

Jamie Rhodes

Investment Manager, UK Investments

Jamie joined the Company in 2004, and is involved in the UK direct investment portfolio. He is a member of the boards of Goumet Holdings plc, PrimeStar Restaurant Group and Emerging Markets Advisory Corporation Limited. In addition, he is responsible for UK fund investments and quoted stocks.

Jamie has extensive operational and entrepreneurial experience, having seed funded, run and sold three successive ventures: an award-winning restaurant in London, a chain of sandwich bars in the North of England, and a nutritional drink. He started his career in the hospitality sector, at one point managing more than 500 employees. Jamie has a BA from Buckingham University and diplomas from the Sorbonne and L’Institut Britannique in Paris.

 Jamie Szpiro

Investment Manager, UK Investments

Jamie joined the Company in June 2008 and is involved in the UK investment portfolio.

Jamie has a broad range of financial experience spanning Corporate Finance, Property Finance and Leveraged Finance at organisations including Hill Samuel and ING Barings. Most recently, he was a director in the Corporate & Structured Finance team at Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander focusing on mid-market buy-outs. He also has direct operational and M&A experience having been a senior director of Wintrust plc overseeing its sale and subsequent  integration into Singer & Friedlander. He holds a degree in mathematics from Cambridge University. 

Caroline Howard

Research Analyst, UK Investments

Caroline joined LMS Capital in January 2007. She carries out financial analysis and market research across the UK investment portfolio, as well as supporting new transactions.

Caroline qualified as a Chartered Accountant with PricewaterhouseCoopers, where she was involved in various private equity and M&A projects within the transaction services division. Since then, she has worked for an early stage technology venture capital firm, and has provided consulting services to blue-chip companies on a range of projects, including the flotation of Burberry Group plc by GUS plc. She holds a BA from Oxford University.

US Investment Team

Scott Potter

Managing Partner, San Francisco Equity Partners

Scott joined LMS Capital in January 2003 with responsibility for the US private equity portfolio. In 2005, he established San Francisco Equity Partners, with LMS as sole Limited Partner. San Francisco Equity Partners has over $55m of committed funds and is focused on expansion-stage companies within the information technology, media, consumer and service industries. Its investments include Method Products Inc, Penguin Computing Inc, The Guild Inc and Luxury Link LLC.

Scott previously served as Senior Vice President, Field Operations for Inktomi Corporation, which acquired Quiver in 2002, the company where Scott was Chief Executive and in which LMS Capital was a major investor. Prior to that, Scott was Executive Vice President of WorldRes Inc and a corporate finance attorney for leading law firm Venture Law Group.

Cameron Steele

Partner, San Francisco Equity Partners

Cameron joined San Francisco Equity Partners in 2005 and focuses on the US private equity portfolio. He has spent the past eight years working with expansion-stage technology companies, both as an advisor and an investor.

Before joining San Francisco Equity partners, he was Vice President and Technology Equity Analyst for McMorgan & Company, supporting an actively managed $5bn equity portfolio. Prior to that, he was with RBC Capital Markets as Managing Director and Equity Research Analyst, covering the enterprise software market. He has also held roles with Verity Inc and Oracle Corporation.

Brian Bank

Director, US Investments

Brian has been working with LMS Capital since 2000 and is responsible for its investments in US venture capital and private equity partnerships. Additionally, Brian oversees the Company’s US-based co-investment portfolio. He is currently a director of Telespree Communications and a member of Boston Ventures’ Advisory Committee.

Prior to working with LMS Capital, Brian was a manager in Ernst & Young’s consulting practice, where he focused on supply chain management within the high-tech and healthcare industries. Additionally, Brian spent several years working as a municipal bond underwriter and international political-military analyst. Brian graduated Cum Laude from Middlebury College and earned his MBA from Cornell University.