The hedge fund manager who founded the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation in 2002 was Chris Hohn, alongside his then-wife Jamie Cooper-Hohn.
CIFF began as the philanthropic arm connected to Hohn’s hedge fund, The Children’s Investment Fund Management, later known as TCI Fund Management. The foundation was designed to apply investment-style discipline to global development, focusing on measurable improvements in children’s lives rather than simply distributing unrestricted gifts.
Its work has expanded across child health and nutrition, education, child protection, climate change, and sexual and reproductive health rights. CIFF operates internationally and is a registered charity in England and Wales. Hohn became especially associated with the foundation because profits from his fund were initially linked to charitable transfers under a formula based partly on the fund’s assets and performance.
The wording can cause a minor mix-up: Hohn is the hedge fund manager named in the question, but Jamie Cooper-Hohn was also a co-founder and led the foundation for a period. The fund and foundation later became institutionally separate, although Hohn has remained closely associated with CIFF.