About Us

Formed in 1992, Bills Asset Management is a partnership between its two principals – Sam C. (Bo) Bills, Jr. and Carter N. Bills. Bo’s father, Sam Bills, founded BAM in Knoxville, TN after a 30 year plus career at the University of Tennessee. Bo joined the firm in 2000 and opened a Nashville, TN office. Carter joined the firm in 2018. BAM is an independent registered investment adviser (RIA) specializing in providing tactical and dynamic professional money management services to individuals, associations, corporations, pension and profit sharing plans, trust accounts, and non-profits. With BAM’s background in higher education, we also provide a number of investment services for 403B and TIAA-CREF accounts offered at various colleges and universities throughout the country.

Successful investing requires a tremendous amount of time and effort. In fact, a successful investor should have time, interest and competence in order to be a successful investor. While an investor might have one or two of these characteristics, it is rare that they have all three. In too many cases, they are too busy, lack interest, or just feel uncomfortable making investment decisions. If these investors adopt a passive buy and hold strategy (or worse, hire an adviser to adopt a buy and hold strategy), they are often forced to see their life savings lose a significant (life changing) amount during the inevitable large corrections in the market. With the “yo-yo” effect of the market, some investors become discouraged and park their money in low yielding bank accounts and certificates of deposit (CDs). The result often becomes a retirement not lived how you once dreamed.

At Bills Asset Management, we follow the market on a daily basis and make those decisions necessary to provide a reasonable return while managing the risk of investing. We monitor your portfolio and initiate changes as required by the constantly changing market to limit the downside risk of the market. Our number one goal is to safeguard your principal and avoid those really bad times by actively managing accounts in order to achieve a respectable return without the daily volatility inherent in the stock market.

Carter N. Bills CFP® / Co-Portfolio Manager

Carter is the co-portfolio manager of our private asset management service. Carter also prepares and implements financial planning services for our clients. Growing up with his father and grandfather in the investment world inspired Carter to take on the same path and become the third generation to be a part of Bills Asset Management. Prior to joining the firm in 2018, Carter worked as a registered representative for OppenheimerFunds, Inc. in Denver, Colorado. He holds a B.S. in Finance with a focus in Marketing from the University of Tennessee. Carter is a Certified Financial Planner (CFP®) Practitioner and a member of the Financial Planning Association of East Tennessee. Carter serves on the Board of Directors for Freedom Rings, a non-profit organization with a mission to end child slavery. Outside of work Carter loves to get off the grid and take backpacking trips on the Appalachian Trail. Carter bleeds two-tone blue and is also a massive Volunteer fan much like his father and grandfather.

Sam C. Bills / Founder & Chairman Emeritus

Sam is the founder and Chairman Emeritus of our private asset management service. Sam received three degrees from the University of Tennessee Knoxville, including a B.S. in statistics. Before founding Bills Asset Management in 1992, Sam spent 30 years as an administrator and professor for the University of Tennessee. In 1992, Sam began working nights and weekends to start Bills Asset Management. And in 1994, left the University of Tennessee to devote full time to the growing Bills Asset Management business. Sam and Nancy (his wife of over 60 years) reside in Knoxville, Tennessee. They have 3 children, 8 grandchildren, and 3 great-grandchildren. Sam is active in a number of financial advising societies and various community organizations, enjoys playing tennis and has traveled extensively.

Sam C. (Bo) Bills, Jr. CPA, CFP® / President and Co-Portfolio Manager

Bo is the President and co-portfolio manager of our private asset management service. Bo is a licensed Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in Tennessee, a Certified Financial Planner (CFP®) certificant and received his B.S. and Masters in Accounting from the University of Tennessee Knoxville. Bo also holds the designation as a National Social Security Advisor and is licensed to sell life insurance in the state of Tennessee. Before joining Bills Asset Management, Bo spent six years with KPMG Peat Marwick LLP (Senior Tax Manager) and five years as a Vice President Finance and Tax for a large publicly traded Nashville based company. Bo and Kelly (his wife of over 30 years) reside in Nashville, Tennessee. They have 3 children, 2 dogs and 2 cats. Bo is a member of the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA), Tennessee Society of CPAs, is active in a number of financial advising societies, previously serving on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Active Investment Managers (www.naaim.org), and is active in various other community activities. In his free time, Bo enjoys fly fishing, tennis, hiking with Kelly and the dogs, and all things Titans, Vols, and Predators.