To lead is to serve

Boudewijn Beerkens

Boudewijn Beerkens is CEO of COFRA Holding AG and a member of its Board. In his capacity as CEO, Boudewijn leads COFRA’s growth and diversification strategy, and oversees the portfolio of COFRA businesses. He was previously Chief Strategy and Operations Officer until 2019.

Before joining COFRA, Boudewijn was Chief Financial Officer at SHV Holdings NV. Prior to that he was Chief Financial Officer for Wolters Kluwer NV and a Partner at PwC. Boudewijn currently also serves on the Board of Oranje Fonds and is a member of the Supervisory Board of Verder International BV and of Goedland NV.

He studied Law at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam before completing an MBA at Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University.

Bernd Hirsch

Bernd Hirsch joined COFRA Holding as CFO in 2021, bringing with him more than 20 years of experience in finance, M&A and international business. Bernd was previously CFO at Bertelsmann, a leading media, services and education company and a Director at Penguin Random House.

After graduating from the Julius Maximilians University of Würzburg with a degree in business administration, Bernd began his professional career at Arthur Andersen, working in auditing, consulting and tax advisory. Thereafter he became the head of M&A at Carl Zeiss Group and subsequently was CFO of Carl Zeiss Meditec AG and CFO of Symrise AG.

In addition to his COFRA responsibilities, Bernd is also Chairman of the Audit Committee at Symrise AG, a major supplier in the flavour and fragrance sector.

Zoe Burgess

Zoe Burgess was appointed as Chief Strategy Officer of COFRA Holding in 2023, together with Stephanie Vermeer, and both subsequently joined COFRA’s management team in 2024.  

Zoe joined COFRA in 2019 as Manager of Strategy and Corporate Development Manager, supporting diversification and M&A efforts. She previously worked as a strategy consultant at Bain and in sustainable private equity at Bridges Fund Management. Since 2020, Zoe has sat on the supervisory board of B Lab Europe – the community of businesses committed to benefitting all people, communities and the planet. 

She holds a BA in Human Sciences, Social and Biological Sciences from the University of Oxford and a MSc in Development Management from the London School of Economics. 

Stephanie Vermeer

Stephanie Vermeer was appointed as Chief Strategy Officer of COFRA Holding in 2023, together with Zoe Burgess, and both subsequently joined COFRA’s management team in 2024. 

Stephanie joined COFRA’s strategy team in 2022 following more than a decade at strategy consultants Roland Berger where she supported, in part, COFRA’s strategy team from 2019 on diversification efforts, climate, renewable energy and other matters. 

She holds both a BSc in Econometrics and Decision Theory and an MSc in Econometrics and Quantitative Finance from Erasmus University Rotterdam, along with a MBA from INSEAD.

Bernard Roelvink

Bernard joined COFRA Holding in 2020 and is part of COFRA’s management team, leading overall legal management and support of the COFRA group and businesses. He has more than 30 years of experience in corporate law, litigation, M&A and capital markets across various jurisdictions. Bernard was previously a partner of Dutch law firm De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek, where he was on the management board between 2000 and 2006. He also worked for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in London and Prague.

Bernard has a law degree from Leiden University. He has lectured for Grotius Academy and the Board Academy on M&A and non-executive director programmes. In addition to his COFRA responsibilities, Bernard is a member of the supervisory board of Eurocommercial Properties NV, a listed shopping centre specialist.

Marike Westra

Marike joined COFRA Holding in 2016 and is part of COFRA’s management team, with responsibility for leading overall strategic communications and sustainable impact approaches for businesses in the group.

Prior to joining COFRA, Marike was SVP, Group Communications & Investor Relations at Royal Ahold, after six years at Philips, where she worked in Healthcare and later as Global VP, Integrated Communications at Philips Lighting. She began her professional career at Excerpta Medica (later part of Elsevier) as a global director in strategic communications and then in corporate relations.

Marike has a BA in Philosophy from Vassar College, New York, and an MPhil from the University of Cambridge. She also holds an Executive MBA from Wharton Business School.

Jeroen Wels

Jeroen Wels joined COFRA Holding as Chief People Officer in September 2023, after more than twenty five years in senior strategic, operational and consulting roles in the United Kingdom, Spain, Canada and the Netherlands.

Jeroen spent 20 years at Unilever, serving as Group Chief Talent Officer in addition to Chief Human Resources Officer of the Beauty and Personal Care business unit. Most recently, he was a Senior Advisor at the Boston Consulting Group and the founder of the People@Work Innovation Collective, a community of progressive senior HR leaders that aims to create business value and positive impact via innovation with promising start and scale ups. He started his career at Deloitte Consulting.

Jeroen holds a Master's degree in Public Administration from Erasmus University in Rotterdam.

Alain Carrier

Alain Carrier joined Bregal in November 2021 from the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments) where he was Senior Managing Director and Head of International.

Alain joined CPP Investments in 2008 as Managing Director for Europe and oversaw the establishment of CPP Investments’ London office. He later became Global Head of Infrastructure and Head of Europe. Prior to CPP Investments, Alain spent more than ten years in the Investment Banking team at Goldman Sachs in New York and London. He started his career as an attorney at Sullivan & Cromwell in New York.

Alain serves as a member on the investment committees of Bregal Unternehmerkapital, Bregal Milestone, Bregal Capital, Bregal Sagemount, Bregal Partners, Bregal Energy and Bregal Private Equity Partners.

Alain holds a LLM law degree from Columbia Law School, a DESS in International Law from the University of Paris I: Panthéon-Sorbonne and a LLB law degree from the Université Laval.

Neil Slater

Neil Slater joined Redevco as CEO in October 2023.

He joined from abrdn where, as Global Head of Real Assets & Global Head of Real Estate, he led one of Europe’s largest real assets businesses. Neil was previously the Chief Executive Officer & Representative Director of abrdn’s Japanese business, moving to Tokyo in summer 2015 to open and build out an investment management business. Earlier, he held senior roles at Standard Life Investments and Man Group.

Neil is an English qualified solicitor. Neil received his MBA (Finance) with distinction from Manchester Business School in January 2007 and has a Master’s degree from St. Andrews University (1999). Neil completed MIT’s Advanced Management Programme in February 2019. 

Jacco Maters

Jacco was appointed CEO of Anthos Fund & Asset Management (Anthos) in October 2018, bringing with him considerable experience from over twenty five years as an investor and senior director in the international investment sector.

Previously he was CEO of Delta Lloyd Asset Management and Group Chief Investment Officer, with responsibility for all of the Delta Lloyd Group's investment strategies. He has also held senior positions at Allianz, ABN AMRO and what is now Lombard Odier.

Jacco holds a Master of Science in Econometrics from Tilburg University, in addition to gaining the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst certification from the CAIA Association and the Chartered Financial Analyst qualification from the CFA Institute.

David Levin

David Levin was appointed as Executive Chair of COFRA Holding’s Sustainable Food Group in September 2022, having stepped down as a board member at COFRA following five years of service.

In addition to his leadership role at the Sustainable Food Group, David is Chairman of Hartford Care ltd, a UK private nursing and care home group, a director of the NASDAQ listed Emerald Expos, and director at Educational Initiatives PVT, an Indian Ed Tech company. David is also an advisor to Alvarez and Marsal’s Public Sector/Education group. David spent 20 years as the CEO of four companies and has wide leadership experience particularly across education, tech and media spaces.

David graduated from Oxford (BA – PPE) and Stanford (MBA), and lives in New York with his wife Lindsay.

Jheroen Muste

Jheroen Muste is Executive Chair, Clean Energy. He joined COFRA Holding in 2016 and was Chief Strategy Officer and a member of the management team from 2019 to 2023.

He began his career at PwC in 1995, working in corporate finance and recovery, and re-joined the consulting firm in 2011 as Lead Partner Digital, Strategy & Innovation after eight years as Senior Vice President in M&A and Corporate Development at Wolters Kluwer. In addition to his COFRA responsibilities, Jheroen is a Board Member of US-based KrypC Technologies, Managing Director of Vederbos Ventures and a board member of the Partnership Foundation, an NGO that aims to help the most vulnerable street children in India unlock their potential and find their place in society.

Jheroen is a graduate of Groningen University, where he took an MSc in Strategy and Corporate Finance. He currently lectures at Erasmus University, Rotterdam, on the Erasmus Executive Programme for Supervisory Boards & Councils.