Sam Oakley

Sam Oakley

Sam Oakley
Financial Advisor, RJFS | EVP and Managing Director, Pinnacle Asset Management


2307 Crestmoor Drive
Nashville, TN37215
Phone: 615.743.8999
Email

When Sam began in the financial services industry in 1984 at Third National Bank, local management and a personalized approach were the foundations of the client/advisor relationship. He feels Pinnacle Asset Management has recaptured that, and in doing so has obtained experience by offering quality products, services and technology, yet remaining small enough to customize the experience for each client. Marrying that with the entrepreneurial and client-first approach of Raymond James, Sam feels he has the perfect combination to serve his clients to the greatest possible level.

Prior to joining Raymond James with his team, Sam served as a private financial advisor and senior vice president with SunTrust Investment Services from 1984 to 2017. He follows a disciplined process of assessing the unique needs and goals of each client he serves, focusing on financial and retirement planning, investment and risk management, and equity and fixed income strategies.

Sam earned a bachelor’s degree from Haslam College of Business at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, in 1980 before going on to earn a graduate degree from Louisiana State University’s Graduate School of Banking. In 1996, Sam received the designation of Accredited Asset Management SpecialistSM from the College for Financial Planning.

Sam has been named to the Barron’s Top 1,200 Advisers (Top 1,000 prior to 2013) list from 2009 – the list’s inaugural issue – to 2017, and again in 2020.  In 2018, Financial Times named Sam one of their 400 Top Advisors in the country.  In 2022, Forbes magazine recognized Sam as one of their “Best-in-State Wealth Advisors.”  In 2019, Bank Investment Consultant magazine ranked Sam as one of the Top 100 Bank Advisors in the U.S.  In addition, Sam has had the honor of being named to Raymond James Financial Services’ “Chairman’s Council” for 2019.

A native and resident of Nashville, Sam is an avid tennis player and also enjoys skiing, cycling, and running in his free time. He is active in his community as a supporter of various youth group programs, volunteer projects and fundraising through Hillsboro Presbyterian Church. Sam is also proud to have built The Oakley House, a home for teachers, in Zimbabwe, Africa, in 2005.

Learn more about The Oakley Group on their website. Check the background of this investment professional on FINRA's BrokerCheck.

Barron's Top 1,200 Financial Advisors, (2017).  Barron's is a registered trademark of Dow Jones & Company, L.P. All rights reserved.  The rankings are based on data provided by over 4,000 individual advisors and their firms and include qualitative and quantitative criteria.  Data points that relate to quality of practice include professionals with a minimum of 7 years financial services experience, acceptable compliance records (no criminal U4 issues), client retention reports, charitable and philanthropic work, quality of practice, designations held, offering services beyond investments offered including estates and trusts, and more. Financial Advisors are quantitatively rated based on varying types of revenues produced and assets under management by the financial professional, with weightings associated for each. Investment performance is not an explicit component because not all advisors have audited results and because performance figures often are influenced more by clients' risk tolerance than by an advisor's investment picking abilities. The ranking may not be representative of any one client's experience, is not an endorsement, and is not indicative of an advisor's future performance. Neither Raymond James nor any of its Financial Advisors pay a fee in exchange for this award/rating. Barron's is not affiliated with Raymond James. 

Barron’s annual ranking of the nation’s “Top 1,000 Financial Advisers” (changed to 1,200 Advisers in 2014). Source: Barron’s “Top 1,000 Financial Advisors,” 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013. Barron’s is a registered trademark of Dow Jones & Company, L.P. All rights reserved. The rankings are based on data provided by over 4,000 individual advisors and their firms and include qualitative and quantitative criteria. Data points that relate to quality of practice include professionals with a minimum of seven years financial services experience, acceptable compliance records, client retention reports, charitable and philanthropic work, quality of practice, designations held, offering services beyond investments offered including estates and trusts, and more. Financial advisors are quantitatively rated based on varying types of revenues produced and assets under management by the financial professional, with weightings associated for each. Investment performance is not an explicit component because not all advisors have audited results and because performance figures often are influenced more by clients’ risk tolerance than by an advisor’s investment picking abilities.

These rankings may not be representative of any one client’s experience, are not an endorsement, and are not indicative of advisor’s future performance. Neither Raymond James nor any of its financial advisors pay a fee in exchange for these awards/ratings. Barron’s is not affiliated with Raymond James. 

Barron's Top 1,200 Financial Advisors, 2020.  Barron's is a registered trademark of Dow Jones & Company, L.P. All rights reserved.  The rankings are based on data provided by over 4,000 individual advisors and their firms and include qualitative and quantitative criteria. Factors included in the rankings: assets under management, revenue produced for the firm, regulatory record, quality of practice and philanthropic work. Investment performance is not an explicit component because not all advisors have audited results and because performance figures often are influenced more by clients' risk tolerance than by an advisor's investment picking abilities.

The FT 400 was developed in collaboration with Ignites Research, a subsidiary of the FT that provides specialized content on asset management. To qualify for the list, advisers had to have 10 years of experience and at least $300 million in assets under management (AUM) and no more than 60% of the AUM with institutional clients. The FT reaches out to some of the largest brokerages in the U.S. and asks them to provide a list of advisors who meet the minimum criteria outlined above. These advisors are then invited to apply for the ranking. Only advisors who submit an online application can be considered for the ranking.  In 2018, roughly 880 applications were received and 400 were selected to the final list (45.5%).  The 400 qualified advisers were then scored on six attributes: AUM, AUM growth rate, compliance record, years of experience, industry certifications, and online accessibility. AUM is the top factor, accounting for roughly 60-70 percent of the applicant's score. Additionally, to provide a diversity of advisors, the FT placed a cap on the number of advisors from any one state that's roughly correlated to the distribution of millionaires across the U.S. The ranking may not be representative of any one client's experience, is not an endorsement, and is not indicative of an advisor's future performance. Neither Raymond James nor any of its Financial Advisors pay a fee in exchange for this award/rating. The FT is not affiliated with Raymond James.

The Forbes ranking of Best-In-State Wealth Advisors, developed by SHOOK Research, is based on an algorithm of qualitative criteria, mostly gained through telephone and in-person due diligence interviews, and quantitative data. Those advisors that are considered have a minimum of seven years of experience, and the algorithm weights factors like revenue trends, assets under management, compliance records, industry experience and those that encompass best practices in their practices and approach to working with clients. Portfolio performance is not a criteria due to varying client objectives and lack of audited data. Out of approximately 32,000 nominations, more than 4,000 advisors received the award. This ranking is not indicative of advisor's future performance, is not an endorsement, and may not be representative of individual clients' experience. Neither Raymond James nor any of its Financial Advisors or RIA firms pay a fee in exchange for this award/rating. Raymond James is not affiliated with Forbes or Shook Research, LLC. Please visit https://www.forbes.com/best-in-state-wealth-advisors for more info.

Top 100 Bank Advisors (2019) To compile the list, multiple variables were combined into one composite score.  The six categories used are: (1) assets under management; (2) trailing-12 month production; (3) percentage  increase in AUM from the previous year; (4) percentage increase in T-12 production;  (5) amount of fee business; and (6) the ratio of   production-per-AUM. (Note: 2018 AUM was defined as the amount an advisor had as of Aug. 31, 2018. Likewise, for T-12 production, the 12-month period ending Aug. 31, 2018 was used.)  The nominees were ranked by each of the six categories and then six different scores were calculated based on where they ranked.  Those six scores were used to compile the final list. The ranking may not be representative of any one client’s experience, is not an endorsement, and is not indicative of advisor’s future performance. Neither Raymond James nor any of its Financial Advisors pay a fee in exchange for this award/rating. BIC is not affiliated with Raymond James.

Chairman’s Council Membership is based on prior fiscal year production. Re-qualification is required annually.  The ranking may not be representative of any one client’s experience, is not an endorsement, and is not indicative of advisors future performance. No fee is paid in exchange for this award/rating.

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