Girls get head start

On a list of the interests of most teenage girls, you’d probably find investing and financial planning pretty close to the bottom. A contest sponsored by the ING Foundation seeks to change that.

The ING-Girls Inc. Investment Challenge has teams of young women 12 to 18 from New York, Denver, Los Angeles and Alameda county in California building and managing virtual $50,000 investment portfolios. The annual contest runs for three years and the inaugural program concludes this summer. Participating teams will receive two-thirds of their investment gains as scholarships. The rest will be donated to local Girls Inc. affiliates to support programming.

Rhonda Mims, president of the ING Foundation and senior vice president of ING U.S.’s Office of Corporate Responsibility, said each team thus far has realized at least a 25% return on its portfolio.

“Given the market volatility over the past years, I think the girls have acquired an understanding of capital markets that they will carry on with them through adulthood,” Ms. Mims said.

According to the ING Retirement Research Institute, women tend to be less prepared for retirement than men.

Judy Vredenburgh, president and chief executive of Girls Inc., said the exposure to fundamental investing skills may improve the participants’ financial literacy, a problem among many teenagers.

“Seeing them mature as investors and then reaping the rewards of their commitment … gives the girls the confidence and skills they need to take charge of their own finances and futures,” she said.