Sir Chris Hohn, the British billionaire hedge fund manager and philanthropist, is a figure of immense influence in the financial world and beyond. Known for his intense, research-driven, and often activist investment approach through his firm, The Children's Investment Fund (TCI), Hohn has generated exceptional returns while also championing corporate accountability and climate action. His philosophy is a compelling blend of long-term value investing, concentrated portfolio construction, and a deep-seated commitment to philanthropy.

On Investment Philosophy and Strategy

  1. On the most important investment criterion: "I think this is something a lot of people get wrong. They think it's about growth, often, or something new. Neither of them, those things in themselves, to us, matter by themselves, the most important thing...is high barriers to entry. The moats that Warren Buffett has talked about." [1]
  2. On the nature of a good business: "The most important answer is ones that are sustainable. Okay, a lot of people, and ideally, you would have multiple moats, multiple pieces of defense. And there are many Moats. is basically something that means that the business is difficult to replace, difficult to compete with." [1]
  3. On valuation: "If it's a great company, it doesn't matter what you pay. The intrinsic value grows.” Short-term multiples are misleading. Long-term growth in intrinsic value outweighs initial entry price. [2]
  4. On long-term perspective: "We think about our investments, not what they will look like in one quarter or one year, but what they will look like in 10 and 20 years' time." [3]
  5. On portfolio concentration: "By concentrating our capital in a handful of very good ideas… it can mean something and can outperform." [3]
  6. On avoiding certain industries: "We have a long list of companies we don't invest in. We're very focused, and we call them risky and bad industries. And I have invested in some of these in the past, but I've learned banks...we don't like banks." [4]
  7. On the problem with banks: "The low quality of earnings because they're very leveraged...and...they're opaque...you can't look into them." [4]
  8. On his investment evolution: "We've become more quality focused in our choice of companies to invest in...I realized there's good companies and bad companies and I became more discerning at what was good and what was bad...and realized good is better." [5]
  9. On market volatility: "As long as we still believe in our positions, we won't let the markets change our minds." [3][6]
  10. On the definition of risk: Quoting Warren Buffett, Hohn states the definition of risk is "not knowing what you're doing." [1]
  11. On growth vs. moats: Hohn considers growth to be less important than the moat. He'd rather own a slow-growth business with a wide moat than a fast-growth one that's easy to disrupt. [1]
  12. On the power of pricing: "If you can price 1% above inflation and and you have a 20% profit margin your profits will grow 5% faster than revenue...that's actually more important because of the leveraged effect of there's no cost associated with it." [4]
  13. On his investment approach: "We are independent minded, we are not afraid to lose money or investors, we are concentrated and we are long-term." [7]
  14. On public vs. private markets: "The very best businesses in the public markets, I believe, are better than...the top 100 public companies are better than the top 100 companies in private equity." [1]
  15. On when to sell: "When it's a view of intrinsic value is not as good as other things, not just value, but conviction." [1]

On Activism and Corporate Governance

  1. On shareholder responsibility: "Shareholders should act as the owners they are because boards are not always aligned with, and occasionally fail, their shareholders." [3]
  2. On the nature of activism: "Although activism can be disruptive, that doesn't mean that it's a bad thing for economies." [3]
  3. On the difficulty of activism: "Quite frankly activism is hard." [3]
  4. On why so few are activists: "Activism is a powerful tool when it's used correctly and the interesting thing is that almost no investors utilise it because they're afraid of the career risk and the business risk and the publicity and the repercussions and so it is particularly powerful because so few people are willing to use it." [3]
  5. On management vs. owners: "Management are not owners and when they diverge in their strategies it can be extremely costly for investors." [3]
  6. On his activist approach: "We have an investment philosophy that looks for strong companies and we are not afraid to be in situations that make others a little nauseous." [7]
  7. On his past activist targets: "We've frequently looked for excellent companies with underperforming management." [6]
  8. On the objective of activism: "We're not emotional about it; we're just looking for value maximization for shareholders." [3]
  9. On the evolution of his activism: "As you get older, you get more patient...and as a human being you realize you can probably achieve more through being constructive than fighting people...I'm trying to work through persuasion as much as I can." [8]
  10. On corporate governance concerns: "Where there's a corporate governance concern investors just seem to stay away completely. They don't try to say 'Well what discount should I apply?' and they just completely stay away." [3]

On Climate Change and "Say on Climate"

  1. On the urgency of climate change: "Climate change is the greatest threat to our children's futures —and the impact is already being felt." [9]
  2. On corporate responsibility for emissions: "Over 35% of total emissions are due to companies. So without tackling corporate emissions we cannot solve the climate change problem." [10]
  3. On the goal of 'Say on Climate': The initiative requires companies to provide an annual disclosure of emissions and present a plan to manage those emissions, which shareholders then vote on. [5][11]
  4. On the failure of companies to act: "While over 35% of total emissions are due to companies, most are failing to take sufficient action on climate change." [10]
  5. On the need for systemic change: "To address the climate crisis our response must encompass every part of society: We need systemic change and bold commitments, not just greenwashing." [9]
  6. On the role of investors in climate action: "Decarbonising your portfolio does not decarbonise the real world." [12]
  7. On his motivation for climate action: "I first started my philanthropy to address extreme inequality...Over time, it became increasingly clear that to deliver real change for children, we needed to tackle the climate crisis." [9]
  8. On climate change as a moral issue: "Climate change is a moral issue—the countries and people most impacted are those who did not cause this problem. We must step up in response to the crisis, and every funder should be taking action." [9]
  9. On the impact of drought: "I saw that the soils were going to dry out through drought, which is happening...And as that occurs, crop yields deteriorate." [13]
  10. On the anti-ESG backlash: He has referred to the anti-ESG backlash as a "very dark thing." [14]

On Philanthropy and Life Philosophy

  1. On his initial commitment to philanthropy: "When I was 20 years old, I met children living in extreme poverty for the first time...At that moment, I made a commitment: if I ever had the resources, I would work to address the barriers that prevent children from living healthy, happy lives." [2]
  2. On the role of philanthropy: "Philanthropy is not a silver bullet and cannot fix all the world's problems; however, in a world where wealth and influence can shape outcomes, those with significant resources must rise to the occasion and use philanthropy to drive meaningful and lasting change." [2]
  3. On his wife's influence to be a public philanthropist: His wife encouraged him to conduct his philanthropic work publicly because "she was against starting a fund just to make money for myself...She said if you [did the philanthropic pledge] publicly, it would encourage other people." [15]
  4. On a holistic approach to helping children: "Nobody experiences health, nutrition, education, safety, the environment or any other aspect of their life in isolation." [2]
  5. On purpose over happiness: "There are more important things in the world than happiness — purpose and meaning." [16]
  6. On tackling root causes: "I want to tackle root causes and and and not simply symptoms...if we don't clean up the water, they're going to get reinfected the next day." [17]
  7. On his life's purpose: "My whole life is to serve humanity." [17]
  8. On the interconnectedness of humanity: "No one lives as an island you know no one's everyone is impacted by the well-being of everybody else...we're one world." [5]
  9. On personal transformation: "What we are can be a result of some crisis in your life. Death, disease, or in my case, the third 'D' divorce." [16]
  10. On advice to young people: Follow your passion and think about who you want to become. [11]

Miscellaneous Learnings and Anecdotes

  1. On the 2008 financial crisis: "The fears over 2008 still persists in people's mind, it is like a trauma...that scar of 2008 still persists and takes time for mental healing for investors and that's why equities still remain cheap in our view because of that fear." [3]
  2. On a memorable CEO interaction: He recalled asking the pre-2008 CEO of Credit Suisse, Brady Dougan, to explain the bank's multi-trillion dollar balance sheet, to which the CEO allegedly replied, "I don't either." [14][16]
  3. On the ABN Amro deal: "They didn't know what they were doing, we didn't know what we were doing, it was all a madness which had made money." [16]
  4. On intuition: Hohn relies heavily on his intuition, not in a mystical sense, but to determine trustworthiness and recognize patterns. [1]
  5. On humility: When asked why he is a good investor, he responded, "It's important to have humility." [4]

Learn more:

  1. Sir Chris Hohn Transcript from "In Good Company" - Iceman Capital
  2. Sir Christopher Hohn - CIFF
  3. Chris Hohn Quotes - Quoteswise
  4. Sir Chris Hohn | Podcast | In Good Company | Norges Bank Investment Management
  5. Sir Chris Hohn: Billionaire Hedge Fund Manager and Philanthropist [REPLAY]
  6. Rethinking Chris Hohn | Institutional Investor
  7. An Extremely Brave and Focused Investor: Chris Hohn of TCI - GuruFocus
  8. TCI's Changing Investment Style (Sir Chris Hohn) - YouTube
  9. Christopher Hohn - Climate Lead
  10. Board responsibilities for company climate plans - Semantic Scholar
  11. Sir Chris Hohn, Billionaire Hedge Fund Manager & Philanthropist - Money Maze Podcast
  12. Redwheel UK Climate Engagement Strategy PRIMER
  13. The Children Are Our Future with Sir Chris Hohn - FEG Investment Advisors
  14. Chris Hohn Interview by Nicolai Tangen (Full Transcript)
  15. 9 Facts About Christopher Hohn's Philanthropy - The Borgen Project
  16. Sir Chris Hohn. I have watched, re-watched, and then… | by Chung Hong Zheng | Medium
  17. Britain proposes domestic emissions trading scheme from 1 January - Carbon Brief