As the end of the year approaches and people's thoughts turn to family, I'm getting daily emails about how to share money knowledge with the next generation. I have a suggestion: All the so-called experts could benefit from some listening. The kids are taking on finance in their own way.

I've been spending some time on the website of Thrasher Capital Management, which calls itself "The Investment Management Firm for the Next Generation of Investors." Their marketing materials are loaded with attitude—as I clicked around the site, I felt as if I needed human growth hormone and a tattoo, stat. Thrasher has a MySpace replete with personals, a blog and 219 friends. I don't quite understand the online setup but I'm sure my kids would.

I originally heard about Thrasher through the fashion e-newsletter Daily Candy—very popular with Gen- Xers—where they announced that investors could open an account with $100. I spoke with James C. Perkins Jr., Thrasher's CEO, portfolio manager and cofounder, in early November, when the flagship GenDex Mutual Fund had been open for a week.

Perkins comes from Arkansas. He started out as a premed at Yale but became interested in financial services as a freshman. "As a bright kid in the South, you are expected to become a doctor or a lawyer," Perkins says. "You aren't exposed to financial services as the nucleus of economic activity. When I went to school, finance caught my eye." Perkins dropped science and never looked back.

It's far too soon to vouch for the GenDex Mutual Fund, but this I can say: Thrasher aims to educate young people and help them become investors. Their videos (on YouTube, of course) explain basic concepts—such as, what is a stock—in real English, not finance lingo. The speakers are both accurate and very nattily dressed.

The Gen-Xers and Millennials Thrasher is trying to attract are better educated and have more earning power than boomers did at their age. They're a very cool wave to catch, and now's the time. "We have notes from parents who want to open accounts for their 11-year-olds," Perkins says. Let's wish him, and Thrasher, much success.

Contact the editor at marion.asnes@sourcemedia.com.