Phil Dow: A Life Well Lived

The life of Phil Dow, the former chief equity strategist for RBC and Dain Rauscher who died last week at the age of 78, could be viewed through a conventional lens of jobs, money and success. But, that’s hardly his story, nor would it be the one he would tell.

Phil was one of a kind, smart, funny and humble. Handsome as a movie star, a sharp wit with far-flung interests in arts, history and science – pretty much any topic besides himself and how smart he was.

“You never knew what was going to come of his mouth,” said Steve Berghs, a retired executive of both Piper Jaffray and RBC. “His wit was so quick, you loved to spend time with him.”

Those are common memories of friends who looked forward to spending time with Phil and his many passions that, not coincidentally, included food. While Phil could turn a strip mall noodle spot into a five-star dining experience, he devoted a lot of energy into finding the very best places to eat wherever he found himself.

That included the out-of-the-way restaurants in Italy, a country whose cuisine Phil sought to explore for much of his life often under the guidance of his brother Paul and sister-in-law Deb who made Phil feel like an adopted son of Italy. Any conversation with him about food in Italy would likely include the adjective “to die for.”

Phil’s day job fit with his Renaissance Man approach: he read constantly about companies and the people who ran them, all in a quest to provide investment counsel aimed squarely at the people he knew growing up in Kansas, the kind of folks who had a fundamental aversion to get-rich-quick ideas. In Phil’s mind, his audience were those who were perfectly happy with the get-rich-slow investments that provided security alongside returns on their money.

He entered the brokerage business at a historic moment in the early 70s; historically bad, it turned out. Stocks didn’t go up for two years, he would say. If you could survive that, you could find success, although always with an eye out for a downturn that could be just around the corner.

He worked at the legendary firm of Kidder Peabody before moving on to Piper Jaffray and eventually to Minneapolis. He also got sober, an event that colored much of the rest of his life and gave him the sense of humility he shared with everyone he met.

“He was a generous man who really cared about the people around him,” said Kevin Cockett who worked with Phil at Dain and RBC.

At Dain and later RBC (when Royal Bank of Canada bought the firm), he became a true star, regularly delivering the company’s brand to viewers of CNBC with an impact strong enough that the network flew him out to Fort Lee, N.J. to offer him an on-air job. Ironically, it would have been a cut in pay.

Retired RBC Wealth Management and Dain Rauscher CEO Irv Weiser noted that Phil was "Dain's face to our investment clients and the public."

"He was truly one of the good guys," said Tad Piper, the CEO of Piper Jaffray when Phil worked there.

At RBC, Phil wrote a book that was promoted by the firm throughout its branches. “The Citizen Investor” was Phil’s manifesto about believing in strong companies and investing in them for the long run.

Said John Taft, former CEO of RBC Investments and now Vice Chairman of Baird: “Phil had an extraordinarily relatable affect, whether on the television screen or in person. Personable, trustworthy, authentic. You appreciated his investment advice and you wanted to be his friend. Those of us who were his friend were lucky to have known him and to have had him in our lives.”

“Phil was always insightful and a fundamentally decent person who didn’t take himself too seriously,” said retired Star Tribune business columnist Neal St. Anthony.

In 2006, Phil’s friend, RBC advisor Warren Kelly introduced him to a fellow RBC employee, Deb Pederson, another critical event in his life story. They fell in love and were married in 2010. In the last 11 years of his life, Deb devoted herself to finding treatments and then comfort for him in his later-life debilitating illness.

In his last years, he kept himself busy counseling many who struggled with addiction as a resource and friend at any time of the day. More than the money he made or the success he achieved, that he continued to help others is one of Phil Dow’s greatest legacies.

Phil is survived by Deb and her children, Alison McManus (Flori Pierri) and Thomas McManus; his own children, Susie Sommers (Neil) and Jay Dow (Jaymee), four grandchildren, Olivia, Sophie and Stella Sommers and Charlie Dow, his brothers Paul (Deb) Dow and John (Diane) Dow, nephews, nieces and countless friends who will miss him tremendously.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorials be sent to the Tau Consortium of the Rainwater Charitable Foundation.