COFRA Names Former Unilever Executive as New CFO

COFRA Holding has announced that Henry Schirmer will become the firm’s newest Chief Financial Officer, effective 1 January 2027. 

His appointment is still subject to approval by the company's supervisory authorities.

Henry succeeds Florian Brenninkmeyer, who was recently named the group’s next Chairman of the Board of Directors. Following his departure as CFO, Florian will take on the chairman role in April 2027.

With Henry in the role, COFRA will gain an internationally experienced executive finance chief at the C-suite level.

Currently, Henry serves as COFRA’s Chief Family Ownership Officer and has held the position since 2024. In this role, he works closely with the owner family and company management.

Prior to working at COFRA, he served as CFO of Dutch staffing services provider Randstad. Before that, he was responsible for Europe and North America as finance chief at Unilever.

Henry also sits on the Board of Directors of General American Investors and on the board of the German-Dutch Chamber of Commerce.

Strengthening COFRA’s financial discipline

COFRA is one of Europe’s longest-running family-owned corporate groups, with roots going back more than 180 years.

Its portfolio includes the private markets specialist Bregal, the real estate company Redevco and Anthos Fund & Asset Management. In addition, the group is active in retail and clean energy.

The company, based in Zug, Switzerland, operates in Europe, the Americas and Asia.

Discussing Henry’s promotion, Boudewijn Beerkens, CEO of COFRA Holding, says: “I am convinced that [Henry’s] expertise and his experience as a CFO will make a decisive contribution to maintaining the group’s financial discipline as we continue our development into a family-owned investment management group.

“Henry has built a strong track record in finance since joining COFRA and has supported the strategic direction of the Group and our family owners, demonstrating his broad professional experience gained over many years.”

US$45bn in total assets

Before serving as CFO, Florian headed the Group Finance Team and held leadership roles at COFRA, the real estate company Redevco, C&A and Rabobank.

Florian – who uses a different spelling of his family name – will replace Martijn Brenninkmeijer, a COFRA veteran who has served as the holding company’s chair since 2018.

The appointment highlights how a new generation of leaders is increasingly taking over the Brenninkmeijer business empire as they push to break away from the tradition of just managing family wealth.

Under Martijn, COFRA evolved from a classic family holding company into a broadly diversified investment management group.

Martijn was at the helm of the group for 12 years: becoming CEO in 2015 and having served as chairman since 2018. During his tenure, COFRA says it strategically repositioned itself and expanded its investment activities.

Grouped under COFRA, the Brenninkmeijer family’s investment divisions include real estate, asset management and private equity, which have all opened to external capital in the past decade. 

The Swiss company now oversees more than €40 billion (US$45 billion) of total assets, adding billions to its portfolio in the last few years alone.

COFRA’s key partners:

Redevco: Redevco specializes in urban real estate investment and development, driving sustainable commercial and residential property projects across major European markets.
CEO: Neil Slater | Headquarters: Amsterdam, Netherlands

Anthos Fund & Asset Management: Anthos delivers B-Corp certified values-based asset management services, prioritizing sustainable investments for foundation clients, family accounts, and institutional pension funds.
CEO: Ronald Wuijster | Headquarters: Amsterdam, Netherlands

Sunrock: Sunrock develops large-scale rooftop solar and clean energy solutions across Europe, advancing sustainable power transition for commercial and industrial clients.
CEO: Bram Poeth | Headquarters: Amsterdam, Netherlands