Girls Who Invest Kicks off First College Summer Intensive Program

Inaugural Class of 30 Young Women Begins Four-Week Program at the University of Pennsylvania, to Be Followed by Paid Summer Internships in Asset Management

PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Girls Who Invest (“GWI”) is proud to announce the launch today of its first summer intensive program for freshman and sophomore college women interested in pursuing a career in portfolio management and leadership in the asset management industry.

The program, at the University of Pennsylvania, brings together a class of 30 students for a four-week intensive program to learn core finance and investment concepts and skills from some of the most respected business school professors and industry professionals in the country. Following the educational program, each Scholar will spend six weeks in a paid internship with a leading asset manager in the industry.

Girls Who Invest, Inc. is a non-profit organization that aims to inspire, educate and support young women so that they will become leaders in the asset management industry. It was founded in April 2015 by Seema R. Hingorani, the former Chief Investment Officer for the New York City Retirement Systems.

“Our hope is that Girls Who Invest will help transform the asset management industry by creating a pipeline of talented and qualified young women and inspiring them to join the business on investment teams,” said Hingorani. “Despite recent studies that show the positive impact women’s perspectives have on the bottom line, the number of women in these positions in the industry remains startlingly low. Girls Who Invest is a substantive, hands-on approach to bring more diversity to asset management.”

The organization’s benchmark for success is to have 30 percent of the world’s investable capital managed by women by 2030. Today, that number is less than 10 percent.

In its first year, GWI will work with 30 diverse young women from thirteen universities with majors ranging from literature to math and economics and plans to expand in each subsequent year to connect with more and more students. The 2016 GWI cohort includes participants from diverse ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. In addition to providing education and job training, GWI seeks to build a mentoring and information-sharing community of women asset managers and senior men in the business that spans from high school to the boards of directors.

By completing GWI’s rigorous program, talented and motivated women will be well prepared to enter the industry across all asset classes, including public and private equity, fixed income, credit, hedge funds, real estate and infrastructure – and to be skilled allocators of capital.

“Most organizations realize that workforce diversity is crucial to success, but few have taken concrete steps to affect change,” said GWI CEO Kathleen Powers Dunlap. “As one of the first initiatives working with girls and placing them in internships in the real world, Girls Who Invest is a game changer.”

Studies show that gender diversity is good for business. This diversity leads to more informed and balanced decision making, which in turn can help bolster both the success of the asset management industry and its clients, including individual investors, pension plans, endowments and foundations.

GWI is proud to count Vista Equity Partners, DE Shaw & Co., Bloomberg, and Pepper Hamilton as its founding partners. Supporters and sponsors include Bank of America, Carlson Capital, Causeway Capital, PAAMCO, 100 Women in Hedge Funds, Amalgamated Bank, Axel Capital Management, BlackRock, CFA Institute, Chief Investment Officer, Citadel, Gray Foundation, Greenspring Associates and PNC Bank.

About Girls Who Invest

Girls Who Invest (“GWI”) is a non-profit organization founded in April 2015 dedicated to increasing the number of women in portfolio management and executive leadership in the asset management industry. Our benchmark for success is to have 30% of the world’s investable capital managed by women by 2030. This goal is in sharp contrast to 2014, a year in which less than 10% of the world’s investable capital was managed by women. We focus on education, industry outreach, accessibility and career placement to achieve our mission. At GWI, we aim to create programs to inspire and support young women to become tomorrow’s leaders.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160531006294/en/

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Carolyn Sargent, 212-843-8030
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Courtney Greenwald, 212-843-8093
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Source: Girls Who Invest

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