Pitt Business: Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business & College of Business Administration

Press Release

December 14 , 2006

Pitt Students’ "Reverse Panhandling" Aims to Educate Millennials on the Importance of Investing for Their Future

PITTSBURGH—According to a recent poll conducted by University of Pittsburgh College of Business Administration (CBA) students, Millennials—young people age 18 to 25—on Pitt’s Oakland campus are very uncomfortable making significant financial investment decisions. Perhaps more disturbing, the same poll revealed that 58 percent of young people do not currently have any investments of their own (not even through a guardian account), 43 percent could not name a single investment management firm, 45 percent could not correctly define a bond, and 41 percent could not correctly define a mutual fund. To combat Millennials’ ignorance of basic financial investment strategies—a problem that is gaining increased attention in the media—American Century Investments® teamed up with ConnectU, a student-run marketing agency made up of 20 CBA seniors.

In November, The Early Show on CBS presented a three-part series, called "Road to Retirement" that detailed how different generations of workers need to be saving for retirement. The Early Show's financial guru Ray Martin told young people in their 20s that to retire comfortably at age 65 they will need to have banked one to two times their annual income in retirement savings by age 30.

In their efforts to educate Millennials, ConnectU held an "Investival" (as in festival) on November 14, where students hit golf balls, got free massages, and watched dance and vocal performances, while learning about financial investing.

"The goal was to help students understand the importance of all types of investing through information booths, activities and games, and live entertainment," said ConnectU Agency Coordinator Leslie Wheeling, a Pitt senior. "The idea was to prove to students that they already invest their time in many activities, including studying, athletics, and even healthy eating." While these types of activities are fun and beneficial in their own right, Millennials need to invest some of their time in shaping their financial futures, explained Wheeling.

Educating Millennials on the importance of investing for one’s future and on basic investment strategies is the aim of ConnectU’s multi-faceted marketing campaign. In addition to the "Investival," ConnectU plans to set up investment kiosks on campus and create buzz by carrying around cardboard trees with American Century Investments®’ logo, as well as engage in "reverse panhandling" on the streets of Oakland by passing out spare change to passersby and telling students what they should do with the coins—invest them!

Pitt is one of six universities participating in the American Century Investments® program this semester. The program is being organized by California-based EdVenture Partners.

For more information about ConnectU, visit whatsupwiththetree.com