William “Bill” G. Spears (born 1938) is an American asset manager, philanthropist and board member. Spears is currently chairman, chief executive officer and co-founder of Spears Abacus Advisors LLC, an investment management firm located in New York City.
Spears began his career at Loeb, Rhoades & Company in 1962 and was named a general partner in 1970.[4] In 1972, Spears founded an independent investment advisory business, which became Spears, Benzak, Salomon & Farrell.[5] The firm was acquired by KeyCorp in 1994; Spears served as chairman and chief executive officer of KeyCorp Asset Management from 1996 to 1999.[6][7] At the time, KeyCorp Asset Management managed $72 billion in total assets. In 1999, he co-founded Spears, Grisanti & Brown.
In 2007, Spears co-founded Spears Abacus Advisors LLC in partnership with Abacus & Associates. He serves as the firm's chairman and chief executive officer.[8]
Spears’ past corporate board affiliations include UnitedHealth Group, Recognition International Inc., Avatar Holdings Inc. and Osborn Communications Corp.[9][10][11][12][13] Spears served as director of UnitedHealth Group for 15 years until his resignation in 2006.
Spears served as a trustee at Choate Rosemary Hall from 1979 to 1991 and became a Life Trustee in 1996.[14] He was chairman of the board of trustees from 1982 to 1987. He established the Spears Endowment for Spiritual and Moral Education at Choate.
Spears served as a trustee at Quinnipiac University from 1993 to 2005 and was chairman of the board of trustees from 2000 to 2005.[15][16] He is a Trustee Emeritus at Quinnipiac and in 1998 received an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from the School of Law.[17] In 2006, he was inducted into the Business Leader Hall of Fame.[18]
Spears became a trustee of the HealthCare Chaplaincy in 1993 and a life trustee in 2001.[19] He served as the organization's chairman from 1996 to 2000. He established The Spears Research Institute in 1998.[20] The institute researches the relationship between spirituality and health.
From 2009 to 2016 Spears served as a trustee of the Nantucket Atheneum.[21] He served as vice chairman of the board for a portion of that time.[22]
