Following the recent announcement of Marcel Prins stepping down as COO per 1 January 2026, the succession for this role has led to two new ExCo member appointments: Chief Technology Officer and Chief Operating Officer.
Ton Ligtvoet, currently Head of Technology at Robeco, has been appointed as Chief Technology Officer and member of the ExCo. He joined Robeco in 2008 as Manager Account and Service Management in Group ICT, after having gained over 15 years of experience in consultancy and project management roles in financial services. Within Robeco, he held several managerial roles within IT and COO related to large IT change and development programs. After completing the outsourcing to JP Morgan, he was responsible for Strategic Project Management, collaborating closely with many departments within Robeco. On 1 September 2025 Ligtvoet was appointed as Head of Technology.
Jochem Gottmers, currently Head of Operations at Robeco, has been appointed as Chief Operating Officer and member of the ExCo. He brings over 20 years of experience across the full breadth of Robeco’s operations, having led teams in Compliance, Procurement, Project Management for the new Rotterdam head office, Investment Research, Client & Investment Services and Oversight on Third Party Service Providers. Since January 2024, Jochem has served as Head of Operations, driving transformation through enhanced client engagement, data-driven insights for the front office, and modernization of processes through technology. In addition, Jochem has been Treasurer of the Robeco Foundation since July 2021.
The third appointment is Simone van den Akker-Martens. Van den Akker-Martens has been appointed member of the ExCo, in the role of Chief Human Resources Officer. Van den Akker-Martens was already an advisor to the ExCo since 1 August 2024. She joined Robeco in anuary 2012 and has held various senior roles within the HR department. She has been part of the HR management team since 2013. Before Robeco, she worked for Nationale-Nederlanden, Rabobank, Interpolis and KPMG in various HR managerial and advisory positions.
Karin van Baardwijk, CEO at Robeco: “We welcome Ton, Jochem and Simone to the Executive Committee. Our new ExCo members bring deep knowledge of our business, and their complementary strengths reflect our focus on people, technology and operations as prerequisites for the execution of our strategy. I am confident that this renewed ExCo composition will enable faster progress, clearer accountability and the innovation our strategy requires.”
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