Tuula Jalasjaa
As a former bank executive, Tuula Jalasjaa amassed over 23 years of experience in the wealth management industry. Although her years in banking helped her to build a strong background, extensive leadership skills, and direct customer expertise, they also exposed Tuula to the significant gaps in the industry. She discovered that women were struggling with financial literacy. Therefore, in March 2019, she launched Canada’s first robo-adviser platform for women called “Smart Money for Her.” The platform is part of The Women’s Collection, a website that provides financial literacy to members via online courses, podcasts, webinars, and social events. Tuula’s objective is to provide an easy-to-understand online tool for all women to explore investing, especially those who may only have a small amount of assets to invest.
First, Tuula noticed a lot of unjust circumstances involving women when she served as a senior bank executive. Many of the women even approached her over the years, and she realized that one of the major issues was that they lacked confidence in money management even though “Canadian women directly control approximately $2.2 trillion of personal assets.” Tuula knew she wanted to cater to this gap by teaching financial literacy, so she created “Smart Money for Her,” a digital online portfolio manager “designed for women, by women.”
As the first female global platform in Canada, The Women’s Collection is, of course, tailored to women. However, Tuula notes that “it is not exclusive to women and is available to anyone looking for goals-based investing.” In fact, the platform has a lot of flexibility. Although female characteristics are taken into account when building out a portfolio, the platform is based around life events, whether the user is a beginner or advanced. Tuula’s goal is to educate all members about finances as well as the unique circumstances many women encounter during their investing years such as having to quit work or reduce hours in order to care for family members.
Prior to founding The Women’s Collection, Tuula obtained an International MBA from the Schulich School of Business as well as a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Western Ontario. She also holds a chartered financial analyst (CFA) designation and the ICD from the Rotman’s Corporate Directors Program.
Most recently, she served as managing director and head of HollisWealth and CEO of Hollis Bank in Toronto. Before joining their team, Tuula enjoyed a long and successful history at Scotiabank. Prior to accepting a position as managing director and head with DundeeWealth Inc. in 2013, Tuula held a number of senior roles within the bank including responsibility for Scotia’s Private Investment Counsel, management of the Institutional Investment Management Distribution Group, and president of Scotia Asset Management US. Before joining Scotia’s Private Client Group, she also served as vice president of strategic business development for Global Transaction Banking at Scotiabank from 2005 to 2008.
Contact:
Tuula Jalasjaa
Banking & Wealth Management Senior Executive/
Founder & Advisor
The Women’s Collection
2010 Winston Park Drive, Suite 200
Oakville, Ontario Canada L6H6P5
Website: https://thewomenscollection.ca/
Website: https://smartmoney4her.ca/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/tuula.jalasjaa ꟾ @thewomenscollection
Twitter: @TheWomensColle4
Instagram: www.instagram.com/thewomenscolle/
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tuula-jalasjaa-53a5401/ | linkedin.com/company/the-womens-collection/