Alan Shields is the research director for specialist strategic research firm Retail Finance Intelligence (RFI). At RFI he is responsible for all financial services research and analysis and runs the Australian Financial Councils, which are member-driven primary research-based programs that include the country's largest financial institutions as members.

Having graduated from the University of Birmingham in England and the Université de Bordeaux with a degree in Physics, Shields began his career as a consultant with Reuters working in London and then in Singapore. At Reuters he specialised in the financial services field and, after returning to London, focused specifically on mortgages and private banking in the European and Middle Eastern markets. In 2004 Shields moved from London to Australia to analyse the Asia-Pacific and Australian financial services markets and joined RFI in January 2007 to head the firm's research business.

Shields has spent his career analysing financial services markets, across Europe, the Middle East and Asia Pacific, working in Singapore, London and Sydney.