Named one of the Top 50 leading women in wealth by Wealth Professional Canada in 2024 and 2025, and recognized with the Wealth Professional Financial Literacy Champion Award for 2026, Jennifer Curpen, CFP, has dedicated her career to advancing financial literacy across Canada, with a focus on supporting marginalized communities through accessible education and personalized guidance. Ms. Curpen, Vancouver-based branch manager at financial services firm Primerica, has nearly 29 years of experience in the industry, and she sits on the board of directors of the Canadian Foundation for Financial Planning and is a faculty member and marker at the FP Canada Institute.
Her passion for helping Canadians better manage their finances runs in the family: she joined her father Jeff Curpen’s advisory firm at age 19. Over the ensuing decades, she has prioritized the promotion of financial equity and guiding individuals and families towards financial independence. That commitment has been more than matched by her philanthropic efforts. In 2017, Ms. Curpen was appointed to the executive committee of Women in Primerica, an internal group that actively promotes opportunities for women across the industry. She also serves as a board member of the United Nations International Decade for People of African Descent and is the vice-president of Carifika Inc., a global non-profit focused on uniting African and Caribbean communities.
Here, Curpen discusses her father’s legacy, how the loss of her mother shaped her vision for the future, and her commitment to giving back through such organizations as the Jr. Black Achievement Awards by teaching financial literacy concepts to youth.
Please share your memories of growing up observing your father, Jeff Curpen, in his career.
I grew up watching my father practise what I would later understand as long-term stewardship. His work was never framed around transactions or growth targets. It was framed around responsibility. Conversations at home centred on families, trust and the long-term consequences of decisions made today. What stood out most was his consistency. Whether a client was just starting out or well established, the standard never changed.
That early exposure taught me that in wealth, reputation compounds just as powerfully as capital, and once trust is established, protecting it becomes the work.
How did your mother and father guide you in your education and career choices?
My parents were united in their belief that education was non-negotiable, but they were equally clear that success did not need to follow a single prescribed path. My father emphasized understanding the mechanics of money, while my mother reinforced independence, discernment and voice.
Five years ago, during the pandemic, we lost my mother at the age of 64. That loss fundamentally reshaped my understanding of time. It reinforced a truth that is often postponed in both life and wealth planning: time does not wait, and neither do the people we love.
Since then, I’ve carried a heightened sense of urgency, not in pace, but in intention. Taking action, having important conversations, and leading by example cannot be deferred. The opportunity to prepare, to be present, and to model the values we hope to pass on is always now.
How did discussions unfold around preparing to take over your father’s business?
Succession was approached as a process rather than an event. There was never an assumption that leadership would be inherited instead of earned. Preparation meant understanding the business from the inside out, learning how decisions affect families over decades, and building trust independently of my father’s reputation.
One lesson was made very clear early on: legacy is not transferred through ownership; it is maintained through discipline. Taking over the business was not about preserving something unchanged. It was about evolving it thoughtfully while protecting the values that made it durable.
In working with families on building and managing intergenerational wealth, how have you observed the journey of Black families to be different from those of their white counterparts?
One of the most consistent differences I observe is timing. Many Black families begin formal wealth planning later, not due to lack of ambition or discipline, but because access to capital, opportunity and trusted advisory relationships was delayed. As a result, planning often needs to address in one generation what others had the benefit of addressing across several.
There is also a strong sense of collective responsibility. Success is rarely viewed as purely individual, which shapes how wealth is shared, deployed and protected. Advisors who overlook these dynamics risk applying frameworks that assume identical starting points rather than building strategies grounded in lived reality.
Why might Black innovators and entrepreneurs still face a lack of funding or access to capital?
Capital tends to follow familiarity. Many Black entrepreneurs operate outside of the networks where funding decisions are most often initiated and reinforced. Even when credentials, performance and vision are strong, there can be an added burden of proof.
In practice, this often results in greater reliance on personal capital, informal lending or slower growth trajectories. Bridging this gap requires more than funding alone. It requires education, advocacy and advisory relationships that understand both the technical realities of building a business and the structural context in which these founders operate.
What foundational rules should families follow when trying to build and maintain wealth across generations?
Clarity is foundational. Families must understand what their wealth is meant to support before deciding how to grow it.
Structure follows closely behind. Without intentional planning, wealth becomes vulnerable to taxation, misalignment and internal friction.
Communication is equally critical. In many families, the greatest risk to wealth is not market volatility, but the absence of shared understanding across generations. Financial education should be treated as an ongoing responsibility, not a one-time conversation.
When governance, values and expectations are aligned, wealth becomes a stabilizing force rather than a source of tension.
When it comes to building legacy and wealth stewardship, what advice do you give your clients?
I encourage families to think of legacy as something that is practised, not postponed. Philanthropy plays an important role, but it is most effective when paired with education, transparency and participation. Involving the next generation early, even in modest ways, builds confidence and accountability. Wealth lasts longer when responsibility is taught as deliberately as returns are pursued. Stewardship is ultimately about alignment, ensuring that capital, values and purpose reinforce one another across generations.
Finally, in terms of your own family, what advice do you give future generations about keeping your father’s (and now your) business alive?
The message is consistent: Learn before you lead. I place great importance on understanding the work behind the outcomes, not just the benefits the business creates. I also emphasize adaptability, because no enterprise survives by remaining static. My father built something grounded in trust and service. My role has been to protect those principles while allowing the business to evolve responsibly. If future generations choose to be involved, it should be because they respect the responsibility that stewardship requires, not because they feel entitled to the result.
Natalya Anderson is a writer and former ballet dancer. She completed her master’s degree in creative writing at Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, England. Natalya has won several literary awards, including the Moth Poetry Prize for her poem ‘A Gun in the House’ and the Bridport Prize for her poem ‘Clear Recent History.’
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