First Insurance Company of Hawai‘i (FICOH), the oldest and largest insurance company headquartered in Hawai‘i, has increased its scholarship endowment to $100,000 at the UH Mānoa Shidler College of Business. Building on an initial endowment of $35,000 established in the spring of 2012, the First Insurance Company of Hawai‘i Endowed Scholarship for Excellence provides scholarships to two students enrolled at the College each year. The first two recipients were selected for the scholarship this past year.
The scholarship is one in a series of gifts that FICOH has made to the College. In 2007, the company established a $1 million First Insurance Company Distinguished Professorship to recruit and retain faculty in the area of risk management. In addition, FICOH has been the title sponsor of Business Night for the past eight years.
“As a Hawai‘i company and employer, we feel it is imperative for us to invest in the people who will one day move our business community and State forward,” said Allen Uyeda, president and CEO of FICOH. “We are excited to enhance our support of Shidler students at a stage in their lives when they are gaining knowledge and forging relationships that will last them their entire careers.”
“FICOH is a great corporate partner. They support our students and the College in many different ways—through their professorship, title sponsorships, and now, scholarships,” said Vance Roley, dean of the Shidler College of Business. “Thanks to FICOH and the leadership of its president Allen Uyeda, our College will continue to attract promising business students and faculty for many years to come.”
University of Hawai‘i Foundation president and CEO Donna Vuchinich added, “We are so grateful to Allen and FICOH for their philanthropic generosity and leadership. Their continued support exemplifies the positive impact the private sector can make when partnering with our public university to enhance Hawai‘i’s students’ educational journey.”
For more than 100 years, FICOH has been serving the insurance needs of Hawai‘i’s families and bbusinesses. A member of the Japan-based Tokio Marine Group, FICOH enjoys an “A+” rating from A.M. Best Company, whose ratings are widely recognized as a benchmark of an insurer’s financial strength.
Today, FICOH employs more than 300 insurance professionals and distributes its products through 29 independent general agencies. The company has claims personnel on O‘ahu, Kaua‘i, Maui and Hawai‘i Island.