Welcome to the Board: Kai Hong

The Asian Pacific Fund (APF) is excited to welcome Kai Hong, Chief Investment Strategist at Bivium Capital Partners, as one of the newest members of our Board of Directors.

As part of APF’s board, Kai will help increase our impact by providing his knowledge and expertise to form and advance our strategic goals and increase our impact. Board members also serve important roles as ambassadors and advocates of APF’s work, helping to strengthen our development efforts, promote our work, and support our annual fundraising efforts.

Could you tell us a bit about yourself?

Hi, I’m Kai Hong. I was born in Taiwan, immigrated to the US as a young child, and grew up in a small town in West Texas. My parents ran a Chinese restaurant where I started working at the age of ten, standing on boxes of canned foods when I was too short to reach the counters. Despite that long apprenticeship, I had no skill in the kitchen, so I studied computer science and electrical engineering at MIT, subsequently landing in New York to start a career in finance on Wall Street. After 14 long East Coast winters, I moved to San Francisco and have been here since 2006.

Currently, I’m the Chief Investment Strategist at Bivium Capital Partners, a San Francisco-based asset management firm specializing in portfolio advisory solutions and boutique and emerging investment manager research. I lead investment strategy and strategic research at Bivium and am responsible for asset allocation and market research, portfolio construction and risk management, manager search and due diligence, as well as product development. 

What inspired you to join the Asian Pacific Fund’s Board, and what excites you most in this new role?

In 2021, I had the honor of joining the board of The California Endowment, and my experience there provided newfound exposure and a much better appreciation for the challenges being faced by various diverse communities. While there are commonalities amongst us all, as an Asian immigrant myself, I wanted to learn about and focus on the unique needs of the AANHPI community. As I got to know the Asian Pacific Fund, I saw a platform through which to work with like-minded folks in order to contribute and boost our community.

I am most excited about the opportunity to join Carolyn and the staff at APF, as well as my fellow board members, in defining and implementing the next phase in the evolution of APF – one that creates leverage and power to further the aspirations of the AANHPI community.

As we look towards the next decade for the Asian Pacific Fund, what are your hopes for APF and our AAPI community as an APF Board Member?

Something that Carolyn said to me early on in our conversations really resonated – as a community, we have “privilege” but not “power.” I sincerely hope that in our work, we can move beyond a historical focus on assimilation and validation and towards strength and advocacy as a distinct, vibrant, and integral component of this country. Our cultures, our languages, and our values can and should be part of the broader conversation in America. Our hard work now will pay off for the next generation and beyond.

Kai, his wife, and their children during a family visit to Yosemite.