As a child in Taiwan, Geo Chen spent hours in the forest around his home. This natural playground boasted waterfalls, hot springs, and Taiwan’s tallest dormant volcano. In 1985, while Geo tracked “cool bugs” along its trails, the forest received protected status as Yangmingshan National Park. For a curious young boy, these early adventures planted a seed and cultivated a lifelong affinity for nature.

He swapped nature trails for financial pathways across the investment ecosystem. Global macro trading is an investment field in which almost any asset in the world can be traded, and that allows Geo to harness creativity in his work. He offers advice and ideas to “teach people to be better traders” on his blog Fidenza Macro, which ranks among Substack’s top 100.

Geo bridged finance and forests as a member of Rainforest Trust’s board from 2017-2025.

Rainforests, in particular, inspired his path to philanthropy. After reading about deforestation, its destruction of habitats and communities, and its connection to climate change, Geo googled “How to buy a rainforest.” Rainforest Trust appeared among the results, and a symbiotic relationship evolved.

The forest-explorer of Geo’s youth grew up to be a global macro investment trader. Geo’s initial gift to Rainforest Trust helped protect an Indonesian island refuge for extremely rare birds, like the critically endangered Cerulean Flycatcher and Sangihe Golden Bulbul. In 2017, Geo joined a donor trip to Malaysia to witness Rainforest Trust’s work—and his philanthropy—in action. In Borneo’s Danum Valley, the travelers visited the Orangutan Research Site of local partner Hutan. They also explored the Kuamut Forest Reserve, which Rainforest Trust helped establish in 2015 to expand one of the island’s most important wildlife corridors.

“It was a life-changing trip,” Geo said. On wildlife treks, the travelers saw an orangutan carrying her baby, pangolins, bats, more cool bugs, and 82 elephants gathered at a river. “I saw so many things there that I had never encountered. And it made me feel connected to the rainforest in a way that I hadn’t been before.”

Geo joined the Rainforest Trust board in 2017—his first-ever board seat. “I admit that I felt out of my depth,” he recalled. “I’m not a scientist or a conservationist.” He was also the youngest board member “by at least a decade.”

At first, Geo limited his input to financial issues. With his guidance, Rainforest Trust developed a long-term investment policy that directs a substantial fixed-income portfolio. This has delivered income to support essential operations as well as conservation projects. “Over time, I gained confidence to voice my opinions in organizational matters and governance,” Geo added. “Being inside a conservation organization taught me so much more than what I could have learned from just being a donor on the outside.”

As he concludes his board term, Geo has offered his support through membership on the Rainforest Trust council. He will sustain his investments in nature through The Huang Chen Foundation, which he founded with his wife, Angela Huang. In Singapore, where Geo lives with his wife and two daughters, he is excited to engage with regional conservation groups that are strengthening local expertise.

The vision of a healthy planet for his daughters inspired Geo’s support of Rainforest Trust. He also emphasized the importance of philanthropy among his peers, who represent a younger generation as compared to traditional donors. The deforestation crisis “wasn’t going to wait for me to grow older or to reach a certain net worth,” Geo said. “I felt an urgency to act, with whatever resources I had.”

His philanthropic advice to his peers mirrors his approach to financial investment: Act first, then research, then act more. “Philanthropy is a learning process,” he said. “But the world’s problems are more urgent than ever. Start early. Start now.”