The board of directors of COFRA Holding, the group that brings together the interests of the Brenninkmeijer family, founder and owner of the textile chain C&A, has appointed Georg Wunderlin as the new chief executive officer and as a member of the COFRA board, effective April 2027.
With this move, Georg Wunderlin, with more than twenty years of experience in promoting investment businesses in private markets and until now CEO of Schroders Capital, will take over from Boudewijn Beerkens, who will retire after eight years at the head of the COFRA holding, which represents a departure from the tradition of executives linked to the Brenninkmeijer family.
"Boudewijn has been an exceptional chief executive officer. His principled leadership fostered a business strategy that has generated strong performance, growth, impact and the thoughtful evolution of our family business, with 185 years of history, all of this in a period of great uncertainty in the market and in the geopolitical sphere," said Martijn Brenninkmeijer, chairman of the board of directors of COFRA Holding.
"Private markets are changing rapidly. Investors concentrate their capital in the largest platforms and the most specialized specialists, and the best managers increasingly need a solid long-term partner in order to grow without losing their competitive advantage," Georg Wunderlin said.
Wunderlin’s entry into the executive frontline comes just a few weeks after the company announced the appointment of Henry Schirmer as the new chief financial officer from January 1, 2027, a date on which he will replace Florian Brenninkmeyer, who has been appointed president of COFRA Holding since April 2027.
COFRA Holding is a family conglomerate headquartered in Switzerland with a presence in Europe, America and Asia. It has a diversified portfolio of investment businesses in fund management solutions (Bregal), real estate assets (Redevco) and asset management (Anthos Fund & Asset Management), in addition to activities and investments in retail and clean energy. Assets under management exceed 40 billion euros.