Liz Ann Sonders
Honoree

Liz Ann Sonders is Senior Vice President and Chief Investment Strategist for Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. Liz Ann has a range of investment strategy responsibilities reaching from market and economic analysis to investor education, all focused on the individual investor. She chairs Schwab's Investment Strategy Council, which provides strategic asset allocation guidance and tactical sector recommendations for the firm's investor base. The output of Liz Ann's work is via written reports, audio recordings, conference calls, and webcasts. She is a regular contributor to all of Schwab's client newsletters and a keynote speaker at many of the firm's corporate and client events.

Prior to joining Schwab in 2002, Liz Ann was a Managing Director at U.S. Trust (a division of Schwab, 2000-2007) and a member of its Investment Policy Committee. Before U.S. Trust, Liz Ann was at Avatar Associates, an original division of the Zweig/Avatar Group for 13 years, ending her tenure as a Managing Director and member of the firm's six-person Management Committee. She is a regular guest on many CNBC programs as well as on CBS's "The Evening News" and "The Early Show", ABC's "Good Morning America," Fox News, and Bloomberg TV & Radio. She was a panelist and regular guest host on PBS's (and subsequently CNBC's) "Wall $treet Week With Louis Rukeyser." Liz Ann is also a regular contributor to The Wall Street Journal, Barron's, New York Times, USA Today, Financial Times, SmartMoney and Business Week. She is a frequent speaker about the stock market and the economy at money management seminars nationwide, is an annual invitee to Fortune's Most Powerful Women Summit, and is a regular panelist at New York Society of Security Analysts (NYSSA) events. In 2006, Liz Ann was named one of SmartMoney's "Power 30," their list of most influential people on Wall Street, alongside Warren Buffett, Hank Paulson and Ben Bernanke.

In 2005, Liz Ann was appointed to and served on the President's Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform. The commission's bi-partisan report remains under review by Congress and the Bush Administration. Liz Ann was recently named to the national board of directors and appointed Treasurer for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of America. She received the 2007 Thomas E. Sinton Humanitarian Award from The Tower of Hope Foundation and is now serving on its advisory board.

Liz Ann received her B.A. in economics and political science from the University of Delaware. Currently, she sits on two endowment advisory committees for the university. She received her M.B.A. in finance from Fordham University.