The 2025 Sohn Hong Kong Conference is coming up on May 30 at the Asia Society Hong Kong Center, and each year, we look forward to a host of brilliant ideas and commentary. This is the 13th year for the charity conference in Hong Kong, which has its roots in the Karen Leung Foundation Hong Kong conference. This is the 12th year under the Sohn brand.
The Karen Leung Foundation
Co-founded by Seth Fischer and Waqas Khatri, Leung’s husband, The Karen Leung Foundation honors the memory of Leung, a former Oasis trader who passed away at age 35 from cervical cancer. Before her passing, she expressed a wish to raise awareness among Hong Kong women and girls about gynecological cancers to enable prevention, early detection, and access to optimal treatment — a mission that the foundation continues to carry out today.
FIscher and his team at Oasis originally started an investor conference charity event, the Karen Leung Foundation Hong Kong conference, based on the Sohn Conference model, although they didn’t partner with Sohn during their first year. The original conference in 2013 provided a forum for professional investors to present market views or investment ideas, with proceeds benefiting the Karen Leung Foundation.
Oasis continues to support the foundation today and has sponsored the annual investor conference charity event each year. The event is now operated in partnership with the globally recognized Sohn Conference Foundation.
“The Karen Leung Foundation continues to promote cervical cancer vaccines, and we’re actually working in Japan at the moment,” Fischer said. “We continue to work on treating, caring for, and preventing cervical cancer across the region, with a continued focus on Hong Kong.”
Partnership with Sohn
The Karen Leung Foundation operates out of office space donated by Oasis, and the foundation team continues to research additional ways to go beyond pap smears for detection of early cervical cancer.
“It’s a very slow-moving cancer,” Fischer added. “So, if you catch it early, you can save lives.”
The partnership with the Sohn Conference Foundation began in 2014, after Evan Sohn approached Fischer following the foundation’s successful inaugural event in 2013 and offered an opportunity for a mutually beneficial partnership. With that, the Sohn Hong Kong Conference was born.
“We get help promoting our conference in Hong Kong and get to tap into the Sohn network,” Fischer explained. “We get to help find international speakers for our conference, and we make some donations to the Sohn foundations, which support cancer research alongside our agenda as well.”
The Sohn Hong Kong conferences’ impacts
Over the past 12 years, the Hong Kong conference has raised more than $25 million to support research, detection, and early treatment of gynecological cancers. Here are some of the impacts of the Sohn Hong Kong conferences over the years:
- Raised nearly $115,000 for urine-based HPV screening during pregnancy in Hong Kong
- Increased screenings in vulnerable group
- Served 1,570 women
- Raised $20,000 for the catch-up of HPV vaccinations in Japan
- Research impact of social networking on increasing HPV vaccination uptake
- Served 4,065 women in Japan
- Raised over $500,000 for access to HPV prevention and to accelerate cervical cancer elimination with self-sampling in the Asia Pacific region
- Examined national HPV vaccination and cervical screening plans in low- and middle-income countries in the Asia Pacific region
- Designed and implemented new HPV-based screening approaches via close partnerships with local stakeholders, communities and women
- Served 4,500 women
Reducing the stigma around gynecological cancers
Graham Rhodes of Longriver Investment Partners will be presenting for the first time at the 2025 Sohn Hong Kong Conference. He shared his personal connection with the cause.
“My wife was diagnosed with pre-cancerous growths from HPV and had part of her cervix removed,” Rhodes said. “When we later tried to have children, we weren’t sure if she would be able to carry to full term. Thankfully, she could, and we’re now proud parents to two wonderful boys.”
Rhodes and his wife share their story to help battle the stigma associated with discussing gynecological cancers while advocating for HPV vaccination and encouraging early screening. His wife wasn’t offered HPV vaccination as a girl, partially because it was taboo then.
“Even as an adult, she was afraid to ask for advice because of the stigma,” Rhodes added. “So yes, I’m honored to support the foundation and excited to present for the first time at Sohn this year.”
Finding a way to give back
Wanyi Yao of Apeiron Capital is also excited to be part of the 2025 Sohn Hong Kong Conference, in part because she wanted to find a way to give back.
“One of the key challenges in a finance career is figuring out how to create a meaningful social impact, beyond generating returns,” Yao said. “Sohn successfully blends these two goals. It’s fantastic to have an event that brings together investment insights and philanthropy.”
Jay Kahn of Flight Deck Capital has been familiar with the Sohn conferences for more than 10 years as Glen Kacher, his partner at Tiger cub Light Street Capital, has participated annually.
“I think it's a great organization, obviously supporting a really important cause, and it's a great opportunity to pull folks together and interact and network,” Kahn said. “And also exchange ideas and, in the process, generate funds for a great charity.”
Calling attention to emerging markets
Thea Jamison of CHANGE Global is also thrilled to present at the 2025 Sohn Hong Kong Conference, looking forward to the opportunity to call attention to investment opportunities in emerging markets.
“And it doesn’t get better than the Sohn Conference, which gathers thoughtful investors from all corners of the world,” she added. “To top it off, I get to support the meaningful mission of the Karen Leung Foundation. It’s a win-win!”
Jamison is especially excited to hear from the emerging managers featured as part of the Next Wave segment at this year’s conference.
“I like to keep my hand on the pulse of everything new and exciting, but I also like to help unique fund managers as they take on the path of entrepreneurship,” she said.
