Finance
Why More Teenagers Are Learning to Invest Like Wall Street Pros · Babson Thought & Action
Brokerage firms, including major players such as Fidelity Investments and Charles Schwab, are increasingly courting teenagers, rolling out investment accounts, incentives, and trading platforms in a push to capture the next generation of investors early.
The most recent entrant into the teen market is Charles Schwab, which launched a Schwab Teen Investor account in March for those between 13 to 17 years old. The account is structured as a joint brokerage account with a parent or legal guardian, and comes with no minimum deposit, no commissions on listed equity trades, and no account fees.
The new accounts come as Gen Z has shown an exploding interest in Wall Street, driven by social media influencers and finance-focused apps. A recent survey shows that 70% of teens aged 13-17 expressed a high interest in investing. Youth-focused trading platforms, such as Greenlight, also have seen major growth. Teens and kids invested $70 million in 2025, a 65% increase in trading year over year, according to Greenlight.
At Babson College, Professor of Practice Patrick Gregory has noticed the increased interest firsthand.
Gregory will be teaching Inside Wall Street: How Investors Find Winning Stocks, beginning in June. The popular one-week course for rising high school juniors and seniors—part of The Arthur M. Blank School Summer Program for High School Students—introduces students to the analytical tools and decision-making frameworks used by professional investors.
“Students will learn more than just theory,” said Gregory, also the managing director of the Stephen D. Cutler Center for Investments and Finance. “They’ll get an interactive introduction into the world of investing that will keep them engaged.”
Hands-on Approach to Investing
Gregory said teens should move beyond the “meme stock” culture and speculative trading content that dominates much of social media finance discourse. Instead, students will learn how institutional investors evaluate companies, analyze financial statements, and build disciplined investment theses.
Inside Babson’s Cutler Center, students use professional-grade platforms including Bloomberg and FactSet to research public companies and test investment ideas. Working in teams, they will analyze real businesses and present stock pitches modeled after those used by hedge funds and mutual funds.
“This isn’t a ‘sit and listen’ class,” Gregory said. “Students learn how to conduct primary research and leverage resources like Bloomberg to arrive at data-driven investment decisions.”
The program also gives students direct access to investment professionals who will discuss how Wall Street actually operates, an experience Gregory said helps demystify the industry while emphasizing rigor over hype.
What students should not expect are “get-rich-quick schemes,” he added. “We focus on rigorous, institutional-grade fundamental investing rather than speculative trading tips.”
Four Investing Tips for Teens
Gregory also is the faculty director of the Babson College Fund, in which Babson students manage $8 million of the College’s endowment. He offered four suggestions for teens interested in investing, or a career in finance:
- Read a few transcripts of company earnings calls, or study the investor relations section of a well-known brand, such as Apple or Nike, to see how those companies talk to their investors.
- Listen to “We Study Billionaires,” a podcast that explores the frameworks used by legendary investors such as Warren Buffett and Howard Marks.
- Start reading The Wall Street Journal or Bloomberg daily and pick two or three companies in industries you find interesting to follow.
- Read “How to Read Financial Statements,” a free, online primer on income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow.
Gregory’s class, which offers additional insights for teens interested in the stock market, is just one of Babson’s immersive pre-college experiences available this summer.
Summer at Babson, the summer program at the Arthur M. Blank School for Entrepreneurial Leadership, offers online and in-person programs for high school students interested in entrepreneurship, business, leadership, and innovation. Designed around Babson’s signature Entrepreneurial Thought & Action® methodology, these programs give students hands-on experience, while exposing them to college-level coursework and professional environments.
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Quadient Recognized as a Leader in the 2026 SPARK Matrix for Accounts Receivable Applications
Quadient demonstrates continued innovation in AI-driven invoice-to-cash automation and unified finance operations
Paris
Quadient (Euronext Paris: QDT), a global automation platform powering secure and sustainable business connections, announced today it has been recognized for the fifth consecutive year as a Leader in the 2026 SPARK Matrix™ for Accounts Receivable Applications by technology analyst and advisory firm QKS Group. Quadient strengthened its position in the report year-over-year, with a notable improvement in Technology Excellence, reflecting continued innovation in its AI-driven invoice-to-cash solution.
According to QKS Group, Quadient’s leadership position highlights its evolution into a comprehensive, AI-powered platform that delivers strong predictive accuracy and straight-through processing. The analyst firm also emphasized the capability of Quadient’s solutions to unify accounts receivable (AR) and accounts payable (AP), offering finance leaders greater visibility and insights into their business finances to make faster, better decisions on working capital management.
Earlier this month, Quadient announced the release of its new cash dashboard capability for AR and AP that allows finance teams to bring together traditionally siloed data in a single view. An AI assistant summarizes key metrics and provides analysis that helps finance leaders accelerate cash on hand, improve forecasting, reduce risk and uncover opportunities to optimize working capital.
“Quadient has established a strong position in the 2026 Accounts Receivable Automation market through its focus on intelligent automation, cash flow optimization and integrated financial operations,” said Sanjeevi C R, associate vice president, Enterprise Research at QKS Group. “The platform’s evolution from predictive analytics to AI-driven autonomous collections execution represents a meaningful step forward in reducing manual effort across the invoice-to-cash cycle. What differentiates Quadient is its ability to combine collections management, cash application, and payment processing with a unified accounts receivable and accounts payable ecosystem, providing finance leaders with a more holistic view of working capital performance. By enabling greater automation, enhanced cash flow visibility, and more efficient receivables operations, Quadient continues to deliver measurable value for organizations seeking to modernize their financial processes and improve liquidity management.”
QKS Group highlighted the following key strengths for Quadient AR:
The G7 Leaders’ Summit took place in Évia
Why financing matters for forest restoration
Over the past several years, Armonía and local communities have made significant progress restoring parts of the Tunari protected area. To date they have planted 1.25 million trees, with more than half of these planted in the Tiquipaya municipality. Community wildfire brigades have been strengthened, reservoirs built to secure water, and new systems created for communities to participate in watershed management.
One of the most important actions was strengthening the structure and function of a watershed governance body, known as Organismo de Gestión de Cuencas (OGC). This coordinates restoration activities and helps design sustainable development strategies for the communities living in the park, helping rebuild trust between them, park authorities and conservation organisations. Women leaders have played an important role in shaping this work.
However, a major challenge was highlighted – restoration takes decades, but most conservation funding arrives through short-term projects. Without stable long-term financing, restoration gains are difficult to maintain.
How the financing model would work
The proposed PES mechanism would collect small contributions directed into a transparent trust fund with independent governance. Resources would then be invested in three main areas:
- Forest restoration and protection – Communities would receive incentives for protecting existing forest and payments tied to successful restoration outcomes.
- Community sustainable development – Investments would support livelihood activities that reduce pressure on the forest, such as sustainable agriculture, water management and local enterprises.
- Strengthening park management – Funds would help support ranger capacity, wildfire prevention and long-term monitoring within Tunari National Park.
For communities, the system recognises their role as custodians of the watershed. For urban residents, it offers a practical way to support the ecosystems that provide their water. For public and private partners, it creates a transparent structure for long-term investment in landscape restoration.
Once fully implemented, the mechanism could generate an estimated £3 million per year for watershed protection and restoration.
Designing a Payment for Ecosystem Services mechanism
Over the past two years, Armonía has worked with municipalities, communities and regional institutions to explore how a PES mechanism could work in the Cochabamba region.
The PES concept is straightforward. Communities living in the upper watershed protect and restore forests that provide essential services such as water regulation, erosion control and biodiversity conservation. Downstream users who benefit from these services contribute financially to support that stewardship.
Through the Accelerator process, Armonía undertook studies, assessments and consultations across the Cochabamba metropolitan area’s seven municipalities. Many residents recognised that protecting the forest is directly linked to their water security. Based on these encouraging results, Armonía and their partners are developing a regional trust fund.
Building the institutions behind the mechanism
The financing system is only one piece of the puzzle – strong governance and community participation are also essential. With FIA support, Armonía is now helping communities develop ten-year sustainable development strategies that identify restoration priorities and income opportunities. A multi-stakeholder platform will oversee the initiative and guide decisions, while the park administration is also receiving support to strengthen monitoring, prevent wildfires and improve co-ordination.
A new model for watershed protection
The work underway in Tunari is about more than planting trees. It’s about building a durable system that links ecological restoration, community leadership and long-term financing. Once the mechanism is operational, it could transform how the Tunari watershed is managed. Instead of relying on intermittent projects, the region would have a locally supported financing system that rewards stewardship and protects the Kewiña forests that has supported life in the Andes for centuries.
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