Challenges and Risk Management
George Ribet, President, Hunter Douglas Metals, Inc.
Mr. Ribet will explain his company´s business model, then address some of the challenges faced by an entrepreneur operating within a larger organization, including issues of corporate culture, access to capital and risk management. In particular, he will address risk management and hedging techniques in an environment of extreme volatility in commodities prices, such as has occurred throughout the world in the past several months. He will also discuss the "entrepreneurial profile" that Hunter Douglas seeks in its recruitment of entry level candidates.
George Ribet is a graduate of Colgate University, having studied liberal arts and history there. After graduation, he worked for several large companies in sales and marketing, including Pillsbury, Union and Commercial Metals. In 1991, he joined Hunter Douglas Metals, Inc., where he became President in 1995. Hunter Douglas Metals is a metals trading company, buying and selling principally aluminum throughout the world. Typically, it buys aluminum from large producers, often in emerging markets such as Russia and Venezuela, then resells such aluminum to industrial users. Hunter Douglas Metals is also a major trader and recycler of scrap metals. Its operations are intensely entrepreneurial in that it takes large positions in actual metals (i.e., the company is not merely a trader on the commodities exchanges), then tries to leverage its special expertise by seeking to benefit from niche market needs, arbitrage opportunities and price fluctuations.