A new wave of young financial minds is set to roll in from Honolulu to Hong Kong under a training scheme to propel disadvantaged Hawaiians from poverty into the financial hubs of Asia.
The scheme is the work of the Akamai Foundation, a public-private partnership linked to Akamai Capital, an asset management firm with interests in several Asian markets.
Akamai Capital's Bob Howe said the aim of the training was to reverse the entrenched view of native Hawaiians as second-class citizens.
'Native Hawaiians have much lower graduation levels from high schools and lower incomes. It is a stain on the US' conscience,' he said.
'The idea is to make it very hands-on. When you teach fishing, it's the apprentice and master relationship where you show them how to weave the nets, rather than drawing a diagram on a blackboard. Suddenly, you open up the door to Wall Street.'
The scheme has two parts: the first raises awareness among high school pupils about careers in finance while the second is a five-year programme on investment banking, private equity and asset management. In the second year of the programme, students do an unpaid internship in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Japan or Singapore.