Trailblazing advisors reshape Canadian wealth with innovation, resilience, and client‑first leadership
Wealth Professional just announced the Top 50 Leading Women in Wealth 2025, spotlighting the advisors, executives, and innovators who are reshaping Canada’s wealth management landscape.
In a year marked by market volatility, generational wealth transfers, and rapid advances in technology, these women have done everything from launching liquid alternative funds and building next‑generation portfolio models to championing financial literacy and rethinking how advice is delivered to Canadian households.
Wealth Professional’s annual list celebrates elite performers who earned the respect of peers and clients by steering investors through choppy markets with calm, disciplined decision‑making and a sharp focus on long‑term outcomes.
This year’s honourees helped create liquid alternative funds for downside protection, advanced the Family Enterprise Advisor (FEA) program, modernized the traditional 60/40 portfolio, and led firms with more than $3bn in assets under management, while also driving initiatives in education, diversity, and financial inclusion.
Here are a few of those women.
Catherine Milum, president and CEO of iA Clarington Investments, uses her senior role to open new avenues for advisors and investors.
She championed the iA Clarington Multi‑Strategy Alternative Pool, a liquid alternative that bundles several actively managed strategies into a single, accessible option for retail clients.
Her focus is on giving advisors tools that improve downside protection and long‑term returns while keeping recommendations clear and suitable.
Milum also spends significant time educating the market about alternatives, stressing that advisors must ensure clients understand what they own as the product set evolves. As she puts it, “Women attract women. When they see women in leadership roles, they say, ‘Maybe I could do this too.’”
As president and chief executive officer of Nexus Investments, Dianne White leads a firm known for its disciplined approach to long‑term wealth management.
White’s focus on steady, fundamentals‑driven investing has resonated with high‑net‑worth families who want both rigour and relatability from their advisor partners.
She has championed transparent communication on risk, return, and fees, and she has leaned into client education so investors can stay the course when markets turn rough.
White’s leadership style underscores that capital stewardship and client trust go hand in hand – particularly in an era when demographic shifts are putting more decision‑making power in the hands of women and younger investors.
Director of retail distribution at RPIA, Carly Plate sits at the nexus between institutional‑grade fixed‑income strategies and the everyday Canadian investor.
She has worked to broaden access to active bond management at a time when yields, duration risk, and credit spreads demand professional oversight.
Plate collaborates closely with advisors to help them position fixed income not just as a ballast, but as an active driver of risk‑adjusted returns in diversified portfolios.
Her efforts have helped advisors articulate where private credit, unconstrained mandates, and other non‑traditional solutions can fit – without losing sight of liquidity and suitability for end investors.
Dalyce Seitz, principal and portfolio manager for private clients and foundations at Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel, brings a calm, long‑view approach sharpened by starting her career just before the 2008 financial crisis.
That experience anchored her belief that preparation and communication are as important as asset allocation.
Seitz completed the Family Enterprise Advisor (FEA) designation to better support wealthy families with complex business and intergenerational dynamics, recognizing that “the human side of the equation” often determines whether a beautifully constructed wealth plan actually works.
As president, CFO, and co‑founder of Equiton, Helen Hurlburt has been instrumental in opening private real estate investing to a broader slice of Canadians.
She has overseen the development and scaling of funds that give advisors and their clients institution‑style exposure to multi‑residential and commercial properties without sacrificing professional governance and transparency.
Hurlburt’s dual background in finance and operations has been critical in building investor confidence in an asset class that many Canadians understand intuitively – housing – but access only indirectly through public markets or personal ownership.
Ida Khajadourian, senior portfolio manager and senior investment advisor at Khajadourian Wealth Management, Richardson Wealth, is known for integrating disciplined portfolio construction with a deeply personal approach to client discovery.
She helps affluent families articulate what wealth actually means to them – freedom, security, legacy – and then aligns investment policy, tax considerations, and risk management around those goals.
Khajadourian’s practice reflects a belief that women investors, in particular, want advisors who listen first, explain clearly, and build strategies that can withstand both market cycles and life transitions.
As senior vice‑president and certified financial planner at Primerica, Jennifer Curpen has made financial planning more accessible for middle‑income Canadians who often feel shut out of traditional wealth channels.
She emphasizes foundational planning – cash flow, protection, and disciplined saving – as the basis for later investment decisions, and she works to demystify products so clients understand both benefits and limitations.
Curpen also plays a mentoring role within the firm, helping newer advisors build sustainable, advice‑centred practices instead of chasing short‑term sales.
Julie Seberras, head of wealth planning and practice management at Manulife Wealth, focuses on equipping advisors with the tools, processes, and coaching they need to deliver holistic advice.
She has helped develop frameworks that integrate tax, estate, insurance, and investment planning, recognizing that clients increasingly expect one cohesive plan, not siloed conversations.
Seberras champions practice‑management support that frees advisors to spend more time in meaningful client dialogues – especially around retirement readiness and income sustainability.
Karla Webster Gill, managing director and head of asset management distribution at SEI Investments Canada, has spent the past year helping advisors navigate an environment where volatility is the norm, not the exception.
She has led teams to introduce and refine products, including globally managed volatility strategies that balance risk and return in turbulent conditions.
She urges advisors to see volatility differently, arguing that emotional reactions pose the real risk. Instead of trying to time every market move, she prioritizes thoughtful allocations, staying invested, and clear communication to avoid knee‑jerk decisions.
As chief marketing officer at Picton Mahoney Asset Management, Leisha Roche plays a strategic role in how advisors understand and adopt risk‑managed and alternative strategies.
Roche’s work has been central to repositioning conversations about alternatives from “exotic” to essential components of resilient portfolios, especially as traditional 60/40 models evolve toward allocations that include a meaningful sleeve of alternatives.
Senior wealth advisor Sara Andria Zollo is recognized for the way she structures client conversations so investors feel informed rather than overwhelmed.
She breaks complex planning into bite‑sized meetings, often delivered virtually, and focuses on cash flow, retirement scenarios, and how pension decisions fit into the bigger picture.
Zollo is careful not to overreact to short‑term volatility, preferring to “sit tight through it,” a stance that proved right in hindsight over the past year.
As head of institutional clients, Canada, at Fiera Capital Corporation, Sarah Aves works with large investors – including pensions, foundations, and endowments – on mandates that can influence thousands of beneficiaries.
She brings a strong governance lens to asset allocation, manager selection, and risk oversight, ensuring that institutional portfolios remain aligned with long‑term obligations.
Aves’ role underscores how women in wealth are not only advising individual households but also stewarding capital at scale across the Canadian economy.
Managing director Simone Reitzes leads at the intersection of pensions and professional practice with the Medicus Pension Plan.
She helps physicians and other healthcare professionals translate variable incomes into durable retirement outcomes, designing structures that balance flexibility and security.
Reitzes has been a strong advocate for educating members on the nuances of defined‑benefit‑style solutions in a world where most Canadians shoulder more retirement risk themselves.
Senior wealth advisor Tina Tehranchian of Assante Capital Management combines technical proficiency with a deep commitment to philanthropy and legacy planning.
She works with affluent families and business owners to integrate charitable goals, tax strategies, and multi‑generational wealth transfer into cohesive plans.
Tehranchian has long emphasized that successful planning is as much about values as it is about valuations, helping clients articulate what impact they want their wealth to have on their families and communities.
Wealth Professional celebrates these – and the rest of the 2025 Top 50 Leading Women in Wealth – for their leadership, innovation, and unwavering commitment to Canadian investors over the past year. Their work proves that when women lead, clients, firms, and communities all benefit.
