At the Swiss Cofra Holding, there is a change at the top of the operational management. Georg Wunderlin will take over as CEO in April 2027 and will also become a member of the board of directors. He succeeds Boudewijn Beerkens, who will retire after eleven years at the company, eight of them as CEO.

The appointment is still subject to regulatory approval.

Boudewijn Beerkens. (Image: provided)

By appointing Wunderlin, the Brenninkmeijer family is bringing in a manager with many years of experience in building international private markets platforms. Most recently, he headed Schroders Capital, the private markets division of the British asset manager Schroders.

Assets under management more than tripled

Wunderlin joined Schroders in 2019, initially as Global Head of Private Assets and later as CEO of Schroders Capital. During his tenure, the division's assets under management rose from 38 billion to 116 billion dollars.

The growth was driven both by the acquisition and integration of specialized asset managers and by organic business development. Schroders Capital relied on a common platform for capital raising, operational services, technology, and sustainability.

Before that, Wunderlin worked at HQ Capital from 2012 to 2019, first as Chief Operating Officer and later as CEO. Earlier positions took him to UBS, where he held various leadership roles. He began his career at Boston Consulting Group.

The designated Cofra chief also has close ties to Switzerland. He studied at the University of St. Gallen and the Stockholm School of Economics and earned a doctorate in business administration.

Private markets as a growth engine

Under its new CEO, Cofra intends to continue expanding its investment business. The focus is on the investment companies Bregal, which operates in private equity, real estate specialist Redevco, and Anthos Fund & Asset Management.

The group's investment companies together manage more than 40 billion euros in assets. In addition to its own capital, Cofra is increasingly also deploying capital from external investors.

Wunderlin is to be responsible for the strategic development of the holding company, manage capital allocation, and drive the expansion of the investment companies. Actual capital raising will remain the responsibility of the respective investment companies.

The new CEO sees particular opportunities in the increasing concentration of the private markets business among large platforms and specialized providers.

"Investors are increasingly pooling their capital with the largest platforms and highly specialized providers," Wunderlin says. At the same time, successful investment managers are increasingly dependent on long-term partners to further develop their businesses.

Leadership changes at several levels

With Wunderlin's appointment, COFRA is completing a broader reshaping of its leadership.

In October, the holding company already announced that Florian Brenninkmeyer, a representative of the family owner's sixth generation, will take over as chairman of the board of directors. At the same time, Henry Schirmer was announced as the new CFO.

Outgoing CEO Beerkens had driven Cofra's development into a group more focused on investment activities. During his tenure, 26 new investment strategies and funds were launched. The group also opened its investment companies more widely to external capital providers.

Florian Brenninkmeyer points in particular to Wunderlin's experience in building private markets platforms. The manager has already twice brought specialized asset managers together under one roof and supported their growth.

Family business with 185 years of history

The Cofra Holding, based in Zug, is wholly owned by descendants of the Brenninkmeijer entrepreneurial family. Their history dates back to the founding of the clothing company C&A in 1841.

Today, Cofra is an internationally active investment and holding group with activities in private equity, real estate, asset management, retail, and clean energy.