Richard Berry
October 11, 1944 - November 13, 2022
Dick Berry passed away at 78 after a long and courageous battle with cancer. Dick was Chief investment Officer of municipal bond investing at AIM and then Invesco where he worked for 25 years. He then joined other AIM Alumni at Brasada Capital for 10 years, where he was a Fixed Income Portfolio Manager. Dick was witty, hardworking, and compassionate towards everyone, and he saw a great return because of this throughout his life.
"Our teammate and great friend Dick Berry passed away on November 13th" said Mark McMeans. "What I most hear about Dick from those of us that knew him is "what a great guy", "what a gentleman he was", and how he had such a calmness about him despite having to face so much tragedy in his personal life. Professionally, he probably forgot more about municipal bonds than what I knew and he taught me a lot. He managed our municipal bond private accounts at Brasada for 10 1/2 years and had terrific track records for the twenty-five years he was at AIM. He loved that Ted used to call a bond that Dick would buy "A Berry Bond", meaning that it was a rock-solid position you could hold for years and not have to worry about. Dick was a loyal AIM guy and other than pictures of his family, his office was adorned with pictures, momentos and money management awards from the AIM years. He will be missed."
"Dick was one of my very favorite people in the world - I'm so blessed to have known him - we remained close and talked often," posted Patti Hefley. "The world is a lesser place without him. Rest easy, my friend."
Jonathan Schoolar posted that Dick was such a gentleman. Always calm, always professional, a complete team player, just a fine human and colleague. Another of the "Great AIMers".
Linda Julian, who worked with Dick at AIM and at Brasada, posted this story about Dick with Karla Siemens permission. "I hope you all enjoy this story as it also reflects the type of company AIM was," posted Linda. "A great story about Dick that reflected his humor, warmth, and humility. I had a morning meeting with Judy Creel. Upon arrival, I noticed that Judy was visibly upset. When I asked her what was wrong, she explained that she was taking canned goods to a food bank drop off center before coming to work. On her way there, a bunny ran out in front of her car, and she hit it. It was dark and she didn’t know if she killed it but knew that she had. I could tell that she was out of sorts and wanted to try to cheer her up some way. Then the idea came to me…. I had just been at The Ritz-Carlton for a meeting, and they had just had their Easter Celebration, which included an Easter Bunny costume. I asked them if we could borrow it for a few hours, which they said absolutely – if we didn’t mind that it hadn’t been washed since being worn the day before. No problem, I said! AIM had also just rolled out their new health insurance plan, which had been a huge undertaking by Judy and her HR team…. Now to find someone tall enough and fun enough to play their part of my plan – and who would forgive that the costume wasn’t “fresh”. Instantly, I thought of Dick. He was always so laid back and ready for a joke or story. I went into Dick’s office and told him what happened and how upset she was. The big ask, would he dress up in the Bunny costume hop into her office and explain that his friend was only wounded but lucky for him AIM has great new health insurance, so his injuries were being treated and all was well! I have to admit that Dick was no push over and it took some convincing and a bottle of wine as well, but he did finally agree to it. He donned the costume and was ready to play his part. What we didn’t know is that Ted Bauer was in Judy’s office when the prank was put into place. So, here’s poor Dick hopping into Judy’s office, gives his speech about the bunny only being hurt and is now being treated with AIM’s new insurance coverage, all the while not realizing that behind him sitting on the couch was Ted Bauer. Luckily both burst out laughing and Judy’s sadness was eased. Ted, being Ted, congratulated Dick on his performance as-well! We worked for an amazing company that was amazing because of the people that worked there. I will always have Dick and many other lovely people in my heart. Here’s to a good man who we’ve lost too early. Love and Hugs….."
In lieu of a service, the family asks that donations go to Hope for the Day. A non-profit movement empowering the conversation on proactive suicide prevention and mental health education.
Read the Houston Chronicle obituary.
Visit the AIM Funds Friends Facebook page for more tributes including these:
Polly Ahrendts posted: "I am very sad to hear of Dick's Passing. I remember when he joined AIM sometime in the late 1980's. We worked in the Fixed Income Dep't together. He was such a hoot. Always had time for anyone and was kind. I enjoyed our Friday afternoon confabs in the corner of the 19th floor, where he usually got the best of me. Sending heartfelt condolences."
James Burke Bradford posted that "Dick was the first professional colleague to guide me to challenge the text books when it came to financial credit analysis. Loved him for that insight .. I always wanted to work for him"
Andrew Price shared that "One favorite memory I have of Dick Berry was the response he wrote (in Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine) to criticism from John Bogle (founder of Vanguard) of the AIM Muni Bond fund...I can't remember the entire response, but in it, he told Mr. Bogle something to the effect of "...read the objective set forth in the prospectus" and he'll see that the AIM Muni-Bond achieved exactly what the objective was. (I would have loved to have seen John Bogle's face reading Dick's perfect response to the erroneous criticism he had spouted the month before in Kiplinger's..)."
Dick was a good boss, but he was a better man. Rest in peace, Chief.
23 November 2022 : 14:51 Comment Link