He was previously President and Chief Executive Officer at Axe-Houghton Funds, Keystone Custodian Fund, and USF&G Financial Services, and he was Senior Vice President of the Bankers Trust investment department. Earlier in his career, Schroeder served as as Assistant Portfolio Manager of the Templeton Growth Fund, rising to President of Templeton, Dobbrow & Vance, Inc.

Schroeder served as an intelligence officer in the Korean War, was President of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO) for 1976-77, and then served on the Board of the Chief Executives Organization (CEO) for several years. He served as a director of the Morgan Stanley Funds, the Investment Company Institute, and Citizens Communications Company, and he was Chairman of the New York Hemophilia Foundation and the Investment Committee of Lawrence Hospital (Bronxville, NY), as well as Treasurer of the Bronxville Community Fund.

After retirement, he found joy in conceiving and developing a 250-acre gated community, the Cold Springs Ranch, adjoining a national forest in the western North Carolina Mountains. The community included an extensive 50-acre arboretum of more than 166 different species of trees. The community later dedicated the arboretum in his name.