Mike Shields is President and CEO of Piedmont Trust Company. He guides strategic direction and oversees all functional areas of the firm and serves on Piedmont’s Board. He earned a B.A. from UNC Charlotte, an M.B.A. from UNC Chapel Hill, and holds a Chartered Financial Analyst designation from the CFA Institute. He began his career at NationsBank (now Bank of America) in Charlotte. After 10 years there, he joined Scudder, Stevens & Clark in New York as an equity portfolio manager in 1992. He subsequently joined Campbell, Cowperthwait, an investment boutique owned by U.S. Trust Corporation, where he was promoted to President and CEO and chaired Campbell’s Investment Policy Committee. In 2003, Mike returned to North Carolina where he continued his career in the wealth management industry.
Mike has over three decades of experience in the financial services industry with the last ten years primarily working with people serious about investing wisely, living with purpose, and finishing well. He has a diverse investment background, including significant Wall Street executive experience, that has led to a skill set with which he helps others gain clarity regarding their life goals, then implement strategies to pursue lives of enduring impact. He had the privilege of working for the Halftime organization in 2003-2004 during which he helped launch the Halftime Institute with Lloyd Reeb and their mentor Bob Buford.
Mike has served on numerous boards and is currently a Director and Chairman of the UNC Charlotte Investment Fund, Director and Trustee of the Royce Funds in New York, and on the UNC Charlotte Foundation and Endowment Boards. He is also Chairman of the Halftime Carolinas Board. Mike and his wife, Marion, live in Charlotte and have three children.