Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. (HEI) has announced the appointment of James A Ajello as the senior financial vice president (SFVP), treasurer and chief financial officer (CFO), effective January 26, 2009. Ajello will report to HEI president and chief executive officer, Constance H Lau. Ajello replaces Curtis Y Harada, who has been serving since February 2008 as HEI acting SFVP, Treasurer and CFO, along with his ongoing duties as HEI Controller.

Earlier, Ajello worked for Reliant Energy Solutions LLC (Reliant) for eight years as the senior vice president-business development. He joined Reliant after the deregulation of Texas’s electric markets.

Prior to Reliant Ajello used to work for UBS in various positions. As Senior Banker/Managing Director of the Business Development/Corporate Finance Group of UBS Securities, Inc. and Managing Director of the Energy & Natural Resources Group of UBS Warburg/UBS Securities LLC, his responsibilities included corporate finance, advisory products, equity and debt issuance, and underwriting products for selected energy, natural resource and other corporate clients. He also served as managing director and head of UBS Chicago and its corporate banking unit, as well as head of UBS’s North American project finance team, responsible for advising clients on, and arranging capital for, large infrastructure projects, including power plants and other capital-intensive assets.

Ajello holds a bachelor’s degree from the State University of New York and a master’s degree in public administration from Syracuse University. He is also a graduate of the Advanced Management Program of the European Institute of Business Administration (INSEAD) in Fontainebleau, France.

We are pleased to be able to add someone with Jim’s experience both in banking and in energy finance and customer solutions to our executive team, said Lau. Not only does Jim bring corporate banking, corporate finance and capital markets expertise, but also a strong entrepreneurial and leadership background in all sectors of the energy field, including energy efficiency solutions and green energy for customers. His background is especially valuable given our utility’s focus on helping Hawaii achieve a clean energy future.