First Insurance Company Acquires Brandvold Ku Inc. Assets

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HONOLULU – First Insurance Company of Hawaii (FICOH) announced today that it will acquire specified assets of Brandvold Ku Inc. (BKI), a well-established and well-regarded claims adjusting third party administrator (TPA) that has been doing business in Hawaii since 1987. The transaction will merge BKI’s business with FICOH’s existing TPA business effective September 1. As a result of the agreement, FICOH’s TPA client volume is expected to double.

A TPA processes insurance claims for separate entities without underwriting or assuming the risks of the businesses they represent. Oftentimes companies or institutions that are self-insured will contract a TPA with risk management expertise to provide claims adjusting and related services for them, such as loss control and various forms of cost containment, to facilitate lowering their insurance costs.

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BKI, co-owned by Ron Brandvold and Mary Ku, is known for the strong, longstanding relationships it has built with its clients over the past 25-plus years. Those relationships will continue following the merger, said Steve Tabussi, FICOH vice president.

“The joining of our two TPA businesses will safely transition the client relationships BKI and its staff have worked hard to develop,” said Tabussi. “Ron Brandvold will be retained as a FICOH consultant while fellow BKI co-owner Mary Ku will join FICOH’s TPA unit as a supervisor.”

Additionally, six BKI staff members will join FICOH’s TPA unit to maintain the client relationships they have helped build. FICOH Assistant Vice President Janice Fukuda will continue to lead the TPA unit, which will roughly double in size when the staff members from BKI join FICOH on September 3.

“FICOH is proud to offer TPA services backed by the bench strength, products, services and wide range of expertise of a full-service carrier,” said Tabussi. “As we move forward, we will be positioning our TPA services in the market by giving the business unit its own name: FiRMS Claims Services.”

 

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8 COMMENTS

  1. They desperately need to change something about that business, but I'm sure they'll do a great job because you don't just buy out a business without having a solid plan

  2. I wonder what they plan on doing differently, because it seemed to me like brandvolt was doing its best the way it was

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