Theo Schwabacher

Educating women is one of Theo’s core beliefs. “Being self -sufficient when it comes to your finances is the key ingredient to survival in an ever changing global environment.” In her support for the education of women, Theo founded the Women’s Intelligence Trust (WIT), which is an annual seminar dedicated to bringing women together to engage in finance, health and technology to discuss cutting edge topics in these respective fields. She is also a popular speaker, and appears monthly, discussing Federal policy changes, consumer job reports and interest rates’ effects on the markets with local news networks. Theo is the go-to person on women’s issues, most recently haven appeared on KTVU and spoken on KGO radio about Women’s Equality Day and the financial struggles women face. In 2016, Theo launched a Women’s Impact Index which evaluates criteria for the Russell 1000 Index. These companies have to positively affect women’s issues in policy, performance, diversity and environmental issues.

Theo has 30 plus years of investment management and wealth advisory business experience. She started her career, during the 1980’s, as a trader of foreign currencies, gold and silver subsequently acting as the municipal bond coordinator for one of the largest San Francisco offices. In the 1990's, she ran an equity portfolio and coordinated the Branch Investment Consulting Services. Currently Theo is a Certified Wealth Strategist and Executive Director with The Schwabacher Group at Morgan Stanley, concentrating on investment management consulting services to affluent families. Her comprehensive planning strategies include investment policy formulation, risk assessment, asset allocation, manager search, performance monitoring and due diligence.

Theo’s own philanthropic participation has led her to participate on many Boards in San Francisco. She works with many foundations and endowments creating legacies for her clients. Her own history of sitting on boards has given her unique hands-on experience and an understanding of function, durability and fiscal responsibility. Past board positions include the San Francisco Cancer Society, San Francisco Mental Health Association, Merola and the San Francisco Opera Board.

Her current Boards of Trustee positions include the Governance Board for the Bay Area Red Cross, Advisory Board positions for the Belizean Grove and outside director positions for companies such as Sports Mole and Nomiku. Theo is also one of the co-founders for the Silicon Valley chapter of WomenCorporateDirectors (WCD), was one of the co-founding members of the Northern California chapter and sits on the Advisory Board for WCD in New York. In 2007, Theo was named to Barron’s Top 100 Women in the United States and was also named to San Francisco Business Times’ Bay Area’s top 25 Women Wealth Advisors. In 2011, she was honored as Woman of the Year by the National Association of Professional Women.

Theo received her Bachelor’s Degree at Occidental College with honors and has attended both Wharton Business School and University of Chicago’s Executive Training Program. She has been married to Michael Gallagher for thirty years and has three children: Roger, Elisa and Aaron. Her interests include writing short stories, reading, skiing, biking, fly-fishing and yoga.