HAWAII

Kamehameha replaces investment chief

Kamehameha Schools has named a new chief investment officer to replace Wendall Brooks Jr., who left the organization in November 2001.

The new CIO, Kirk O. Belsby, has more than 15 years of real estate industry experience in development in such areas as project valuation, asset management, lease analysis, due diligence and transaction management, according to Kamehameha Schools. Belsby was employed with accounting firm Arthur Anderson LLP, ending his tenure there as Western United States Regional managing partner for real estate consulting. Prior to holding that position, he was managing partner of the firm's Pacific Southwest business.

Kamehameha Schools' endowment group has 66 employees and is responsible for managing the trust's $6 billion real estate and financial assets portfolio. Belsby officially assumes his position Jan. 6.

Bankoh to build a new branch in Palau

Bank of Hawaii will build a $2 million branch to replace its existing building in the Republic of Palau. The money is a joint investment between the bank, which is paying $1.2 million, and its landlord, the Estate of Isidoro Rudimch, which will pay $800,000. Construction is expected to be completed by summer 2003.

Bank of Hawaii first opened in Palau in 1961 and now has 22 employees at the branch.

MAINLAND

Room revenue ticks up in 3rd quarter

SAN FRANCISCO >> Hotel industry room revenue edged up in the third quarter from a year earlier, research firm Smith Travel said yesterday.

It calculated that revenue per available room, a combination of occupancy and room rate, rose 0.5 percent to $53.17 in the quarter.

The hotel and travel industries have been hard hit by fears of terrorism and the weak economy, and few see any strong recovery on the horizon.

Third-quarter occupancy edged up 0.9 percent while the average hotel room rate itself fell 0.4 percent to $82.56, Smith said, reflecting a trend noted by many lodging companies struggling to raise rates even as demand improves slightly.

A number of companies have forecast strong improvement in the last quarter of the year, which will be compared with the months immediately after the Sept. 11 attacks, when airline travel and hotel revenue hit a severe slump. But companies have said they expect little to no growth in revenue per available room next year, with consumers trying to save money.

Divided SEC picks Webster to head board

Washington >> Former FBI Director William Webster was picked by the Securities and Exchange Commission to head a new accounting oversight board after a political fight that may undermine the panel's credibility.

SEC Chairman Harvey Pitt and two other Republican commissioners -- all with past ties to accounting firms -- elected Webster to be chairman of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board on a 3-2 vote. The party-line split led to a call for Pitt's resignation from Democratic Sen. Paul Sarbanes, who sponsored the law that created the board.

"I am beholden to no one," Pitt said, denying that he was influenced by the accounting industry or the White House. He called the 78-year-old Webster "a man of unquestioned and unparalleled national acclaim" who has worked for presidents of both parties.

The SEC's three Republicans rebuffed Democratic Commissioner Harvey Goldschmid's choice, John Biggs, 66, who ran the TIAA-CREF pension fund. Biggs angered the accounting industry by supporting rotation of auditors, treatment of stock options as expenses and restrictions on consulting services to audit clients.