Early Life
Christopher Anthony Hohn was born in October 1966 in Addlestone, Surrey, England. His father was a Jamaican-born car mechanic, and his mother was a legal secretary. He attended the University of Southampton, graduating in 1988 with first-class honors in accounting and business economics. Hohn furthered his education at Harvard Business School, earning a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in 1993 as a Baker Scholar.
Rise to Success
Hohn began his career at Apax Partners in 1994. He then joined Perry Capital in 1996, becoming head of its London operations in 1998. In 2003, he founded The Children's Investment Fund Management (TCI). TCI's investment strategy focuses on strong businesses with sustainable competitive advantages, employing a private equity approach and a long-term investment horizon.
Key Business Strategies
TCI is a value-oriented, fundamental investor focusing on strong businesses with sustainable competitive advantages. It conducts deep fundamental research and actively engages with management. Hohn is known for using activist strategies when appropriate, and TCI's portfolio is highly concentrated to maximize alpha. He is also known for his initiative to make companies better disclose emissions and benchmark their performance incentives to curbing carbon output.
Philanthropy
Hohn is a significant philanthropist, primarily through the Children's Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF), which he co-founded in 2002. CIFF has historically focused on child development, climate action, and reproductive health, becoming a prominent private climate funder. However, CIFF has decided to stop funding US projects due to uncertainty in the US policy environment.
