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“The future of finance is female and women who want to lead are well-positioned to excel in this industry,” are the rousing words from Robyn Thompson, founder of Castlemark Wealth Management Inc. “Women bring a valuable and unique set of qualities to the industry. Their strong communication skills help them explain complex financial concepts in a way that clients can easily understand, making them approachable and responsive.”
Wealth Professional’s Top 50 Leading Women in Wealth are living examples of those words and the torch bearers for the next generation of females in the financial industry.
They have made an impact in every facet of Canadian wealth management, from financial advisors and planners, to portfolio managers and presidents. They were not named on the prestigious list for revenue generation or sales figures, but for their professional accomplishments and industry contributions.
Kelly Ho, partner at DLD Financial Group, shares, "For years and years, we had to strive and really put in 120 percent, whereas men can put in 80 percent and still get to the same place. But I think that the gap is closing and the general public has realized that women are just as capable, if not more capable, when it comes to our empathy and detail orientation."
Sun Life’s Global Investments data shows that in Canada:
Women represent 15–20 percent of financial advisors.
Female investors are 2.5 times more comfortable taking investment risks with female advisors.
Women occupy 21.9 percent of senior leadership roles and 10 percent of highly paid positions.
There are increased opportunities for female advisors as Mackenzie Private Wealth has predicted that:
The share of Canadian financial wealth controlled by women will increase from 37 percent at the end of 2018 to 45 percent by the end of 2028.
Female clients will make 2.5 times the number of referrals compared to male clients.
“While there is a demonstrated need for greater female involvement in the industry, it has to be done in the right manner,” says Thompson. “To attract more female clients, firms first need to recruit more female financial advisors. A good place to start is to create a culture where female advisors can thrive. Firms that wrap themselves in a pink bow, or perpetuate outdated stereotypes about women and money that are not backed by academic research, will not serve anyone well.”
Research included in CIBC’s report “The Changing Landscape of Women’s Wealth,” shows that advisors, such as WPC’s Top 50 Leading Women in Wealth, are key to enabling all Canadian women to achieve financial success.
Thompson adds, “By creating more inclusive environments and promoting female representation in leadership roles, firms can better serve this growing demographic and ensure that women’s voices are heard.”
This is a view shared by Léony deGraaf Hastings of deGraaf Financial Strategies who highlights that the greater support women receive, the better the Candian finance sector will be.
“As women are so underrepresented in the industry, it is even more important to seek out our tribe and offer support to one another. By cheering each other on, we will uplift female entrepreneurs to higher levels of success,” she comments. “Encouraging more women to enter and thrive in wealth management will not only improve gender equality but also bring new perspectives and ideas that are certain to drive growth and innovation in the industry.”
With some clients shown to prefer female advisors, there is clear evidence that more women should be handed leadership roles.
"Those in the C-suite cannot ignore the numbers when they see women doing exceptionally well in the wealth industry by being able to acquire business and work with clients who trust them," says Ho. "The numbers don’t lie, and results say it’s all about how so many women are doing so well and succeeding."
Following in her father’s footsteps, La Gamba helps clients throughout the Greater Toronto Area.
“The people I want to work with are individuals who need guidance and advice. They all have unique challenges based on their own structures, circumstances and careers, and they want someone who’s going to understand that,” she says.
La Gamba joined the industry in 2009 with Freedom 55 Financial and became president of King Financial and Benefits Inc. in 2012, before moving to SPM in 2018.
“There are unique qualities that I think women have in terms of how they operate their practice, how they work with their clients, how they view planning, and how they help clients achieve their goals. What I’ve seen is that we add something that was missing,” she explains.
Wolfe oversaw the company’s major rebranding in May 2024, when Horizons ETFs became Global X, one of the world’s largest ETF platforms with more than $710 billion in assets across 19 countries and markets.
“It was a massive undertaking, and we had just six months to do it. I’m so proud of the team that we managed to deliver on time,” she says.
Wolfe previously held positions such as head of Canada marketing at BlackRock and strategic advisor, women’s segment for BMO Private Wealth. In 2019, she founded Wolfe Collective Wealth, a firm that coaches women and teaches them to invest.
Booker is known for a strategic, results-oriented approach, consistently delivering high-impact initiatives and adept at building high-performing teams along with developing strong relationships with stakeholders.
Booker was headhunted by Revesco in 2023 to create a strategy to grow a new fund to $1 billion. She has built robust risk management and compliance processes, ensuring that operations are secure and efficient, while developing a comprehensive marketing strategy.
“My role has involved facilitating equity partnerships with five new firms, broadening our network and strengthening our position in the industry,” she says. “I created processes to ensure investor relations excellence and introduced new technologies to streamline the investment process from start to finish, maintaining top-tier communication with investors.”
Upon graduating from Wilfrid Laurier University with a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology, Zollo joined Sun Life Financial in 2009.
“I started the advisory journey at 21. I loved it and never looked back,” she says.
In 2021, Zollo moved to Assante Capital Management, where she works with families, professionals, and business owners to alleviate financial stresses. She helps her clients construct financial plans and transition into retirement.
Having found a niche of women managing finances on their own, she says, “I find they tend to prefer to work with a female advisor. So, existing female clients will refer me to other women, and that’s naturally developed my practice.”
Curpen’s father, who had moved to BC from Mauritius, founded his practice with Primerica in 1990, identifying the need to increase financial literacy among minorities. She earned her license at age 19 and later took over the office. Curpen now has 27 years of experience helping middle-income Canadians become debt-free.
“There’s a big need for minority women, especially, to have access to common sense financial literacy that wasn’t tied to a certain product,” says Curpen. “We’re not worried about our second property or our Maserati. We’re worried about sending our kids to school, and retiring not under a bridge. That’s why I like the financial literacy approach by giving people information and they can choose what they want to do with it.”
La Gamba has created her own road to success. Earlier in her career, she took notice of an older advisor in his 70s and whose book she was taking over, realizing his way of operating wasn’t for her.
“His clients were used to going moose hunting with him. It’s a very different dynamic that you can have with clients sometimes, male versus female. I had to really prove myself and show them they were going to get value working with me,” she explains. “We’re probably not going to go moose hunting, but I can have an espresso with you and make sure you’re taken care of.”
And she adds, “It’s easy for women to have imposter syndrome, too. I think it’s a common trait and that’s something I’ve been working really hard to move past.”
Another of the top financial advisors in Canada, Booker specializes in challenging herself and has earned the nickname ‘The Fixer’.
“I’m at my best when there isn’t a plan and I get to create one. I still do at least three crossword puzzles a day because I just love solving problems,” she says.
And she maintains the same mindset by surrounding herself with people who pose a challenge.
“I believe firmly in having people around that are smarter than you or else you’re not going to grow,” comments Booker. “That’s a mistake some people make. They want to be the best at everything. I’m really good at taking in information and picking it apart and figuring out the best solution as a leader.”
Some of her achievements at Revesco include:
creating an investor portal
implementing an independent advisory committee overseeing potential conflicts of interest
rolling out an ESG policy encompassing asset management and human resources
“They highlight my ability to drive strategic initiatives, foster innovation, and lead with a vision that aligns with the evolving needs of the wealth management industry,” she says.
Being on the front foot resonates with Curpen, another Leading Woman in Wealth. She says, “I’m very reactive to people and if that resonates with someone, then that’s the kind of client I want.”
Another area that speaks to Curpen is the situation of women who are unable to leave a relationship because they rely on their partner or are not financially literate. However, of Canadian women who do leave their partners, 80 percent change their financial advisor within a year.
“That market segment really means something to me, because when you don’t have financial options, you don’t have options,” she adds.
For Curpen, who leads 151 employees, what makes her success more satisfactory is that she took over the practice in the aftermath of the 2008 market crash.
She recalls, “Everything went to hell and most of my clients were all older than me, and it’s a very old Caucasian, male-dominated industry, and so to come into it as a young, and a really young-looking, female minority was really difficult.”
Wolfe also feels a sense of achievement. She began working in the ETF space in the early days.
“It was very exciting to actually be a part of that disruption and it’s great to see ETFs come in and how they’ve evolved and grown, and just to be a part of that entire channel in financial services,” she says.
As a board member of Women in ETFs, which aims to support diversity and inclusion across the Canadian financial service industry through education and events, Wolfe has an interesting take on being a woman in the industry.
“I don’t think it hindered me, but sometimes it was difficult to participate in activities outside of work when I had the responsibility of being a caregiver, but that was purely societal and not a company thing,” she explains.
Wolfe played an integral role in Horizons ETFs becoming Global X and was involved in innovative plans, such as signing financial media personality Jon Erlichman to an exclusive contract to broadcast on YouTube.
“‘Innovation meets investing’ is our tagline but innovation leads to disruption,” she shares. “That is a part of my ethos and the values set that we have within Global X, and it’s exciting to see what’s next.”
Similarly feeling a sense of anticipation is Zollo, who thrives on being a pillar of strength for clients. Helping people is her motivation for staying in the industry.
“From a woman’s perspective, a big part of what we do is caring about our clients. It’s not just about the investments or the recommendations which we ultimately earn a living from,” she says. “It’s about truly helping. People get to really know and trust you, and you’re a confidante to them. I take that very seriously.”
Along with bringing a level of confidence, Zollo ensured her technical skills were on par with anyone, enabling her to counteract gender bias. “I solidified my knowledge base, and I knew I was bringing value to the conversation, so I never felt at a disadvantage to my male counterparts.”
This forward-thinking and growth-oriented approach, which began with her seeking out mentors early in her career, continues to serve Zollo.
“Even now, after 15 years in the industry, I always know who I want to be in five years. You have to have a vision of the person that you want to be very clearly. I say five years because anything shorter just comes too quickly and it takes time to grow.”
While gender equality in the wealth industry has improved, there is still a distance to go.
“Women in financial services often face a range of systemic issues rooted in historical norms, biases, and structures that have long shaped the industry. Despite changing social norms, women are still more likely to bear the brunt of caregiving responsibilities, ranging from childrearing to eldercare,” says deGraaf Hastings. “By showcasing successful female professionals and mentors, firms can offer real-world examples that women can relate to and aspire toward.”
To encourage women to stay in the financial industry, Wolfe created and organized a major event called ‘Breaking Barriers’ in 2023.
“The point was to have women networking, but also instilling that you can move to a different part of finance, from wealth management to capital markets, perhaps into the payments division from hedge funds. There’s a lot of opportunities because we have a unique skill set,” states Wolfe. “Women who are entering financial services should keep an open mind to all the opportunities available to them.”
Zollo echoes that, as she is co-authoring a handbook to guide new advisors in the early stages of their careers.
She says, “The attrition rate is high in the first five years, with 90 percent of people who enter the industry not staying beyond that. If you stay, you have a great chance of building a successful career.”
For Booker, being a woman in a leadership position comes with a responsibility to change outlooks, which she shares by encouraging and championing other women.
“I received great advice from a male mentor – it was to look at the positives of being a female leader and lean into it,” she says. “In wealth, we’re hard lined to believe that we need to be tough and aggressive as a leader, but it’s okay to be more emotional and empathetic. Every time I meet a woman in this industry, I give them praise for just surviving because sometimes you’re the only woman in the room. We need to fix each other’s crowns.”
This aligns with La Gamba, who volunteers with The Institute for Advanced Financial Education, and is part of a women advisors’ group founded by another advisor who felt there were not enough people who looked like her in the industry.
She says, “We met recently and there were 18 of us, and it was such an energizing day. There were women who’ve been in the business for 30 years, and women who’ve been in the business for two years. We share perspectives on how being a woman in the business offers different opportunities to clients.”
And Curpen’s work has been recognized by the Black Business Association of BC, which named her Best Professional Service Provider. She was also voted onto the board of the Canadian Foundation for Financial Planning, and volunteers as vice president (human rights) for Carifika, a global non-profit aiming to unify African and Caribbean communities by fostering economic, educational, health, and cultural growth for future generations.
Thompson adds, “Mentorship among women in the wealth management industry is a game changer. It creates a supportive network that helps tackle the systemic challenges women face in this male-dominated field.”
In July,Wealth Professional Canada invited industry professionals across the country to nominate their most exceptional female leaders for the fourth annual Leading Women in Wealth list. Nominees had to be working in a role that related to, interacted with, or in some way impacted the financial services industry, and to have demonstrated a clear passion for financial services.
Nominators were asked to provide details of their nominee’s achievements and initiatives over the past 12 months, including specific examples of their professional accomplishments and contributions to the industry as a whole, such as community outreach, innovation, DEI promotion, and mentorship.
The WPC team reviewed all nominations, examining how each individual had made a meaningful contribution to the industry, to narrow down the list to the Top 50 Leading Women in Wealth. Revenue generation and providing sales figures are not mandatory criteria to be deemed a winner.