- A British billionaire emphasized the importance of an applicant’s personality to work at his hedge fund.
- Chris Hohn values employees motivated by more than money.
- The hedge fund’s small team prioritizes trust and teamwork, seeking open-minded candidates.
British billionaire Chris Hohn said there’s one thing that really matters in job interviews.
The founder of London-based hedge fund The Children’s Investment Fund, which manages about $58 billion, told Norges Bank Investment Management CEO Nicolai Tangen in his most recent podcast episode that his top-performing employees are not just motivated by a paycheck.
Hohn said they think a lot about someone’s personality when they want to work at the company.
“There’s a human aspect to work,” he said. The best people don’t simply come to work for money, Hohn explained, they also come because they enjoy the environment.
“It’s really important how we treat people, how everyone treats each other,” he said. “I’ll never hire someone without the blessing of my senior team because we could destroy the culture.”
The Children’s Investment Fund has a small investment team of only seven or eight people, with an overall head count of about 200.
“We’ve known each other a long time, and there’s something we’ve built which is intangible trust,” Hohn said.
He shared some insight into how to get a coveted spot at the hedge fund.
Hohn said one of the questions they ask applicants is: “What makes a good business?”
“We ask for a case study or two, and it becomes immediately obvious whether you know what you’re doing,” he said. “It’s not enough just to be a good investor; you have to want to work in a team — not everyone wants that.”
Hohn also said you need to be able to get along with people, in a way that you should be open-minded to being wrong.
“You can’t be too dogmatic,” he said. “The personality does matter a lot.”
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