RADFORD - The College of Business and Economics (COBE) invites the RU community to the 2009 Global Capitalism Distinguished Speaker Series, sponsored by BB&T, at 10 a.m. Friday, Oct. 30 in the Hurlburt Student Center Auditorium. The presentation is open to the public and is free.

The presentation by Keith Shields, analytic development lead for Marketing Associates in Detroit, is part of a series of symposiums hosted by BB&T and COBE to stimulate thought and discussion about capitalism, the tenets of free enterprise and the best practices of successful organizations.

“Keith’s perspective and experience will provide the RU community valuable insight into today’s business world” said Dr. Faye Gilbert, COBE dean. “This exciting opportunity to explore the dynamics of capitalism is unique and we thank our friends from BB&T for making it possible.”

Shields' presentation, titled "Balancing Capitalistic Urges with Effective Consumer Risk Management in the Automotive Finance Industry," focuses on automotive risk management and is drawn from his 14 years at the Ford Motor Credit Company (FMCC), where he was director of global analytics. In that role he had global responsibility for the development and governance of all quantitative risk management solutions needed to support the origination, pricing and servicing of FMCC's $100 billion portfolio.

Shields is currently the senior statistician and lead analytic development consultant for Marketing Associates, a technology-enabled marketing firm, and has over 17 years experience developing and applying analytics and quantitative technologies to the fields of risk management and database marketing.

Following his tenure at FMCC, Shields spent two years at the Credit Acceptance Corporation (CAC), where he was vice president of portfolio management. At CAC he was responsible for devising strategies to mitigate the credit losses associated with a $1 billion subprime auto portfolio. His efforts focused around the development of behavior models, collections strategies and optimizing collector staffing levels and work schedules.