Meet Zoe Over A Cappuccino

Zoe Wolpert, Portfolio Manager at Wealthsimple & Co-Founder of Femina Cena| Toronto, Ontario

I first met Zoe at a Female Funders breakfast gathering. Female Funders is an organization that strives to increase diversity in the investment and tech ecosystems by empowering female leaders to become investors. At the breakfast, Zoe was vocal about her deep desire to help educate women on how to best manage their finances, a necessary step to financial independence. She also enlightened us on a community she co-founded along with two other women, Femina Cena. I just had to get to know Zoe more over a Macchiato <> Cappuccino. Needless to say, she inspired me in more ways than one. At the time of our last coffee get-together at Maman Bakery Café, we shared important stories about life, community and career pivots.

A long-time Wealth Management Advisor, Zoe was contemplating taking the (exciting!) plunge into FinTech where she could bring her expertise and impact lives at the intersection of technology, the medium people use today for the majority of their banking and investment needs. I was so curious to know how her bold pivot has impacted her life and how her Femina Cena community has motivated her to keep forging the path for financial education for women.

Zoe is currently a Portfolio Manager at Wealthsimple, Canada's leading online investment management service that combines powerful technology with human advice to make smart investing available to everyone. Zoe is big on education so regularly hosts Investment 101 workshops and volunteers as a financial literacy educator at a local women's shelter. Prior to joining Wealthsimple, Zoe spent 5 years at Canada's largest independent wealth management firm working with high-net-worth families. Zoe holds the Chartered Investment Management designation and a Certificate in Advanced Investment Advice. If that’s not exciting enough, Zoe co-founded Femina Cena along with Danielle Spierenburg and Farialle Pacha, an organization bringing together women of all backgrounds and industries in a forum setting to share their experiences and advice in a safe, supportive and fun environment.

Time to soak in all the wisdom with Zoe! ☕️

What does the power of connection mean to you and how has it impacted your personal and business life?

Z.W.: To me connecting means being human. Being willing to understand and accept my own emotions, biases, insecurities and behaviours has helped me more in my personal and professional life than anything else. What I’ve realized is we all have the same underlying fears and dreams, but we think we are the only ones. When we get past all the fluff and are willing to be human with other people, that’s when we can connect. It might mean being awkward and saying the wrong thing sometimes, but it’s so worth it.

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Femina Cena means women’s dinner in Latin (very loosely translated) and that’s exactly what it is! The goal is to bring together women from all kinds of industries and life stages, from new grads to CEOs, so that we can learn from each other.

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- Zoe Wolpert

We met at a Female Funders breakfast and have been mutual supporters of each other since. What encourages you to take an active part in these types of communities and brought you to build one of your own, Femina Cena? How can people take part?

Z.W.: There are so many cool women’s groups that are operating at a word of mouth level here in Toronto. My sister Sophie co-founded DyNasty and it was amazing to see women from all walks of life come out to these events just wanting to connect. This was so different from the women’s networking events I had been to which were more industry specific like “women in law” or “women in finance”. She inspired me to collaborate with two of my colleagues at the time on Femina Cena. The name means “women’s dinner” in Latin (very loosely translated) and that’s exactly what it is! We think about an event we would want to go to and create it by bringing in topic experts to guide the conversation and great food and wine to enjoy. The goal is to bring together women from all kinds of industries and life stages, from new grads to CEOs, so that we can learn from each other. We’ve been blown away by the reaction we’ve gotten, selling out every event. We post everything on our LinkedIn page.

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I like the idea of using your career to work on a problem that needs to be solved. Closing the investing gap (google it!) seems like something I can help solve.

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- Zoe Wolpert

You've recently made an important pivot in your career, taking a leap of faith from your long standing career as an Investment Advisor to taking on a senior role in a disruptive FinTech Startup, Wealthsimple. What gave you the courage to make this move and what have you learned from it?

Z.W.: I joined Wealthsimple because of the people and the mission. People who create companies from the bottom up bring a special level of energy to the table, and I want to spend my time contributing to a mission I believe in (making smart investing available to everyone). Ultimately, you’ve got to take a chance if it feels right.

You dove into an industry originally dominated by men. What has your experience been to date and what changes and improvements would you like to continue seeing and driving within the modern workplace? How are you contributing to this change at Wealthsimple, in the communities you are a part of, and in your personal life?

Z.W.: I like the idea of using your career to work on a problem that needs to be solved. Closing the investing gap (google it!) seems like something I can help solve, even if only on a small level. I started doing Investing 101 workshops for women and volunteering teaching financial literacy at a local women’s shelter early on in my career and still do. These sessions are the most impactful when everyone feels comfortable to share their experiences and ask questions. It comes back to the idea of being human and connecting with a community.  If we can get people talking about money, nothing is off the table.

Wealthsimple is not immune to the imbalance that we see in the greater financial industry, here’s our report on it. We have a major initiative that involves every aspect of the business to do our part towards closing the gap. Stay tuned and for now, if you’re a woman who wants to start investing let’s chat.

What is the worst advice you’ve received? What is the best advice?

Z.W.: Worst – “Just be confident.” I’ve spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to be more confident. Then I realized confidence is not something you either have or don’t have; it’s built and practiced! What matters is gaining experience and you don’t need confidence for that, you just need to be willing to try something and fail. That’s the secret!

Best – “Everything in moderation.” We live in a world of extremes but I find I’m happiest when I’m practicing moderation. Too much of anything is unhealthy. 

Mindset you live by… go!

Z.W.: A little bit of optimism goes a long way.

Connect with Zoe!