Benjamin Khoo is Founder CEO of Elion House (the “Sun”) in 2008, one of the first clean-bio technology incubators in Japan and Asia. Clean tech first piqued his interest whilst a financial engineer in Tokyo structuring complex exotic derivatives. He noticed a commonality in wave functions of stochastic financial models and quantum mechanics – both fields rely on probability vs. certainty.
On March 11, 2011 a magnitude 9 earthquake struck off the coast of Japan in Fukushima and plunged Japan into an energy crisis after massive tsunami waves destroyed the Fukushima nuclear power plant. Post Fukushima, nuclear power currently provides 6.5% of Japan’s electricity, down from around 30% in 2010. It was the most powerful quake ever recorded in Japan and the fourth most powerful earthquake in the world since modern record-keeping began in 1900. The quake triggered powerful tsunami waves that may have reached heights of up to 40 meters and travelled at 700km an hour for up to 10km inland in some places. Over 20,000 people lost their lives.
Mr. Khoo’s watershed moment was surviving the horror-stricken escape down 20 stories of stairs whilst the quakes swayed the Tokyo skyscraper he was working in 3m sideways. He saw many of his colleagues fall down and hurt themselves in the “stampede” and this made him conscious of the true nature of the human mind which seeks firstly to protect itself. This was his “higher calling” to shift all his focus on Elion House and a solution to the ensuing energy problems in Japan, and which the world now grapples with. He decided to leave a lucrative career in investment banking and has since devoted his personal wealth and time to accelerate the development of new energy technologies.
Mr. Khoo believes in creating new ideas that will enable the natural and human worlds to thrive. His mission is to rethink concepts of technology, business and finance using them as tools to solve the world’s most pressing problems: air and water pollution; the destruction of ecosystems and biodiversity loss; dwindling food, water, and natural resources.
His work has led to recognition in the sustainability space where he speaks on emerging trends in cleantech infrastructure and impact (ESG) investing at consultations around the world: RiskMinds 2018/ 2019, All-Energy Australia 2017, Windsor Energy Group , Deutsche Bank Alternatives Day, The Borrowers and Investors Forum (AsianInvestor), Low Carbon Earth Summit..
Mr. Khoo was Senior Vice President at a number of investment banks in Japan where he has worked for 20+ years and he has built teams managing multi-billion dollar complex derivatives portfolios at Morgan Stanley, HSBC and Nomura. At JP Morgan, he was on the principal team responsible for risk-management, trading, and structuring market-risk and balance-sheet management solutions for institutional investors, sovereign wealth funds, and corporations around the world.
Mr. Khoo arrived in Japan on a scholarship from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Gaimusho). He started his career as a Systems Engineer at Mitsui & Co. in Tokyo and developed IT and enterprise risk-management solutions for Japanese financial institutions and corporations.
Mr. Khoo has a diverse background and is proficient in Japanese and has an innate understanding of global markets. He was awarded an investment fund management license by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (Central Bank) in 2014 for a pioneering cleantech fund concept. He is a member of the Japanese Securities Dealer’s Association, the Singapore Business Federation, and The Taskforce on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). He has a black-belt in Tae Kwon Do and is an avid sportsman and enjoys swimming, jogging, tennis, golf, meditation and spending time with family.