Maili Wong

Maili Wong, named one of Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100^TM by the Women’s Executive Network (WXN), takes an uncommon approach to wealth management. Some focus solely on interest rates, investments and cash flow. Maili believes that we tap into our highest power when we allow our emotional, intuitive energy to work synchronously with our scientific and logical mind. It’s a view that’s positioned her to help achieve success for her clients using her signature Smart Risk^TM approach.

At The Wong Group at Wellington-Altus Private Wealth, Maili leads a 10-person advisory team dedicated to providing holistic wealth management to high-net-worth clients. She specializes in discretionary investment management, comprehensive financial planning, risk management and insurance solutions.

Maili’s path began with disciplined excellence, graduating with honours and earning the distinction of “Most Outstanding Female Graduate” from the University of British Columbia (UBC). Leveraging her Bachelor of Commerce degree in Finance, she secured a Wall Street position at Merrill Lynch in New York City. There, she specialized in equity derivatives, then helped manage over $5 billion at a global hedge fund.

Shortly after she moved to New York, Maili’s perspective shifted dramatically during the events of 9/11. Her experience of navigating chaos and relying on the kindness of strangers reshaped her mindset and life focus. It inspired her to choose her own path and embrace risk as a source of strength rather than vulnerability.

Maili refined her expertise during five years at major New York investment firms, earning the prestigious Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation. These experiences shaped her roadmap for smarter risk-taking in life and business.

She shares lessons from over two decades of international investing experience in her Amazon #1 bestseller Smart Risk: Invest Like the Wealthy to Achieve a Work-Optional Life and her powerful TEDx Talk.

Her groundbreaking wealth strategies have garnered multiple accolades, including the Wealth Professional Award for Portfolio/Discretionary Manager of the Year, and the Wealth Professional Award for Canadian Advisor of the Year in 2024.

Maili’s work has been featured in MoneySense, Forbes, The Globe and Mail, BC Business Magazine, Business in Vancouver’s “Top Forty Under 40” list and Canada 150 Women, which celebrates the country’s most influential female leaders. She was also named one of B.C.’s Most Influential Women by BC Business.

Dedicated to community leadership, Maili serves as a board member of the Asia Pacific Foundation, Canada’s leading think tank on economic ties with Asia. She is also the national chair of the annual Down Syndrome Research Foundation, the founder of the Maili Wong Scholarship in Finance at UBC (which empowers future female leaders through mentorship and financial support), and a former member of the Real Estate Council of British Columbia, appointed by the Minister of Finance. Maili is listed in The Globe and Mail’s Find an Advisor Directory, highlighting her as a trusted financial advisor.