Saundra Gibson
Managing Director
A personal approach to wealth planning
Saundra Gibson is Managing Director at Steel Tower Investments, partnering with high-net-worth families and individuals to develop custom, comprehensive financial plans. She provides direct access to the markets, crafting simple yet exceptional strategies attuned to clients’ specific performance, risk, and time horizons.
At Steel Tower, she serves as her clients’ personal CFO, working in concert with a team of certified public accountants (CPA), estate attorneys, and investment professionals to take a cross-disciplinary perspective on taxes, generational planning, and sources of risk throughout each portfolio. She brings a personal perspective on the unique needs of affluent business owners and families and believes that simple, long-term strategies generate the most remarkable performance.
“I love working with a small number of families and providing a very high-touch experience. Clients share all aspects of their financial lives with me, and with insights from our cross-disciplinary team, I counsel clients on their options and how to plan the life they want.”
Saundra Gibson, Managing Director
Deep investment management experience
Saundra’s investment philosophy has been shaped by over 20 years of experience spanning private and public markets, global compensation, alternatives, and international Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investing. She spent over 15 years at Merrill Lynch, serving as First Vice President. In this role, she shepherded the executives of 35 private companies through successful initial public offerings and earned an Internationally Certified Private Wealth Advisor accreditation. Previously, at Credit Suisse, she was Managing Director, Private Wealth Advisor, and Co-Head Sustainability, Americas, for eight years, leading the firm’s global vision for impact investing. During this time, she co-founded the Pennsylvania State University Marcellus Shale Consortium in collaboration with Credit Suisse and the university’s College of Agricultural Sciences.
Since her career began, Saundra has been deeply committed to the issue of equitable compensation. She helped write the global compensation standards as a founding board member of the Global Equity Organization (GEO), also serving on the board of the Santa Clara University Certified Equity Professional (CEP) program. For decades, Saundra has built expertise in the area of sustainability, focusing on ever-evolving climate and emissions technologies. She is an Impact Ambassador for ImpactPHL and the City of Philadelphia and enjoys serving as a board member and advisor within this field.
Education and early career
Saundra earned a bachelor of science degree from the Smeal College of Business at the Pennsylvania State University. As an undergraduate, she was personally selected by Bill Schreyer of Merrill Lynch to participate in a selective training program, which launched her specialized career in private equity and alternative investments.
Saundra resides in the Philadelphia suburbs with her teenage children and two dogs.
