HB20: Chris Fong, Tradewind Capital

Bridging mainland experience with local purpose, Chris Fong focuses on affordable housing development for the aunties, uncles, and families of Hawai‘i.

Chris Fong is not someone who is content with ideas alone. “People would talk about ideas,” he recalls of his early involvement in Honolulu’s Downtown Business Improvement District, “but rarely would people volunteer to do the work coming out of the calls.”

For Fong, that gap between discussion and action was not a frustration — it was a call to execution.

Rather than waiting for momentum, Chris stepped forward — researching, collecting data and studying how other cities had revitalized their urban cores. “I would volunteer to do whatever research or data collecting had been discussed,” he says. Over time, he became the person who held the data, the research and the collective perspectives of downtown stakeholders, helping push the initiative toward passage of an ordinance establishing the district.

Fong serves as a Senior Investment Associate at Tradewind Capital, where he is a member of the real estate acquisitions and asset management team. “My primary responsibilities are leading our development initiatives and sourcing and managing new real estate investments,” he explains, with a particular focus on development and affordable housing.

Born and raised in Hawaiʻi and a graduate of Punahou School, Fong left the Islands to attend the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business. Even then, his long-term intention was clear. “I always wanted to come back home to work in Hawaiʻi,” he says. “It was never a matter of if — it was just when.”

During college, he interned at Bank of Hawaiʻi in the commercial real estate lending division just as the Kakaʻako neighborhood’s skyline began to change.

Following the guidance of mentors, Fong began his career in investment banking at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods in San Francisco, where he focused on M&A and capital raising for financial institutions. “Part of our coverage was banks like Bank of Hawaiʻi and First Hawaiian Bank,” he notes. “It was a way for me to have a piece of Hawaiʻi with me.”

After two years, he transitioned into real estate private equity, joining BlackSand Capital, where he spent four years gaining exposure across residential, office, industrial and hospitality assets throughout Hawaiʻi.

A pivotal influence throughout his career has been Colbert Matsumoto, chairman of Tradewind Group. While Matsumoto has stepped back from day-to-day operations, ceding leadership to CEO Rob Nobriga, he continues to play a critical advisory role. “Colbert serves more as a mentor-type role to someone like me now,” Fong explains, offering guidance shaped by decades of experience in Hawaiʻi real estate and public-private development.

That mentorship helped draw Fong back to Tradewind, where he now focuses on affordable housing development. “The best type of real estate is real estate that’s used,” he says. “What I like about building housing for local people is that it ensures it’s going to be used by our aunties, uncles, parents, brothers and sisters.”