The 2026 Sohn Hong Conference is coming up on May 20, 2026 at the Asia Society Hong Kong Center, bringing together leading investors and fund managers to share some of today’s most compelling investment ideas. Ahead of the conference, Hedge Fund Alpha caught up with Jonathan Shih, chief investment officer of Keyrock Capital Management, who will be speaking at the event.
Background on Jonathan Shih
Born in Boston, Shih grew up in Hong Kong before returning to the U.S. to attend Brown University and Harvard Business School. He and his wife of 15 years, Joan, have two children.
Growing up, the most influential people in Shih’s life have been his parents. His father taught him the importance of continuous learning and improvement, demonstrating this by learning the piano at age 50 and going back to school to get his doctorate at age 65. Shih’s father also learned Chinese calligraphy at age 72.
“I always say that he is a renaissance man because of his insatiable desire to learn,” Shih said in an interview with Hedge Fund Alpha.
His mother taught him the importance of humility. When Shih was younger, his mom would always tell him to “stay humble” whenever he got good grades or won a prize.
“She reminded me not to let my head get too big when I did something right!” Shih recalled. “Both of my parents are workaholics. Growing up, I remember spending most Saturdays at my mom’s office. My sister and I would do our homework. If we finished early, my mom would give us money to buy candy at the store downstairs. That was our prize for spending Saturdays at my mom’s office!
He bought his first stock when he was seven years old after his father encouraged him to invest his own money. Shih’s father told him to pick one stock, and he would buy it for him
“Because the internet did not exist back then, I looked through the newspaper to see what stocks were listed,” he explained. “I had three criteria. 1) I wanted a stock that wasn’t too expensive, so it had room to go up. 2) I wanted a stock that was on an upward trajectory, thinking that would bode well for the future. 3) I wanted a stock in a business that I understood. I picked a furniture company. A week after I told my dad to buy the stock, the company announced strong earnings and the shares went up. Obviously, it was pure luck, but I was hooked.”
On launching Keyrock
In his decision to start his own fund, Shih wanted to emulate basketball legend Michael Jordan, who famously said that even if he didn’t get paid for playing the sport, he would still be out on the basketball court because of how much he loved the game. Shih feels the same way about investing.
“It’s a profession that challenges you every day and requires you to continually learn new skills,” he said. “This desire to improve was one of the key motivators for me to start my own fund. After having been an analyst for nearly 10 years, my learning curve was flattening out. In fact, prior to starting Keyrock, I had kept a mock portfolio with the help of a Big Four auditor for three years. It was fun, but nothing is like managing real money.”
Prior to founding Keyrock, Shih worked at Tybourne Capital and Ward Ferry, both investment firms based in Hong Kong. Before launching into public equity, he worked in private equity, consulting and investment banking.
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