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== External links ==
== External links ==
* [http://www.ameriprise.com/ Ameriprise Financial - Official Site]
* [http://www.ameriprise.com/ Ameriprise Financial - Official Site
* [http://www.amexsux.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi/ Ameriprise Financial - Consumer Complaint Site]
* [http://ir.ameriprise.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=191716&p=irol-irhome Ameriprise Investor Relations]
* [http://ir.ameriprise.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=191716&p=irol-irhome Ameriprise Investor Relations]
* [http://http://www.finra.org/InvestorInformation/InvestorProtection/ChecktheBackgroundofYourInvestmentProfessional/index.htm FINRA Brokercheck Page]
* [http://http://www.finra.org/InvestorInformation/InvestorProtection/ChecktheBackgroundofYourInvestmentProfessional/index.htm FINRA Brokercheck Page]

Revision as of 02:48, 6 October 2007

Ameriprise Financial, Inc.
Company typePublic (NYSE: AMP)
IndustryFinancial services
Founded1894
FounderJohn Tappan
Headquarters
Minneapolis, Minnesota
,
USA
Key people
James Cracchiolo,
Chairman & CEO
ProductsInvestments
Revenue10,259,000,000 United States dollar (2012) Edit this on Wikidata
3,182,000,000 United States dollar (2022) Edit this on Wikidata
2,559,000,000 United States dollar (2022) Edit this on Wikidata
Websitewww.ameriprise.com

Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE: AMP) is a company offering financial advice and products. It is the successor to American Express Financial Advisors (AEFA), which was a subsidiary of the American Express Company. In 2005, American Express launched the spin-off of AEFA as an independent company. The new name came into effect August 1 2005, and the transaction closed on September 30 2005. James Cracchiolo is the chairman and chief executive officer of Ameriprise. The company's headquarters are in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

History

Ameriprise Financial began life as Investor's Syndicate - in 1894.Here are a few of the company's key milestones:

  • 1894 - John Tappan founds Investors' Syndicate
  • 1937 - Company assets reach $100 million
  • 1940 - Investors' Syndicate enters the Mutual Fund market in partnership with Investors Mutual
  • 1949 - Investors' Syndicate changes its name to Investors Diversified Services, Inc. (IDS)
  • 1958 - IDS Life Insurance is created
  • 1974 - the IDS Center is opened in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota as the company's headquarters
  • 1984 - American Express completes acquisition of IDS Financial Services
  • 1986 - IDS acquires Wisconsin Employers Casualty Company of Green Bay and renames it IDS Property Casualty Insurance Company
  • 1994 - IDS reaches $100 billion in assets and conducts business under the American Express brand
  • 2003 - American Express Financial Corporation acquires London-based Threadneedle Asset Management
  • 2005 - American Express announces plans to spin off American Express Financial Corporation into an independent company
  • 2005 - American Express Financial Advisors is renamed to Ameriprise Financial, Inc.
  • 2006 - Ameriprise launches Ameriprise Bank, FSB

Ameriprise Financial is the 4th largest financial advisory firm in the US. The company has over 12,000 financial advisors and 2.8 million clients, although less than a million are using financial advisors.[citation needed] The company specializes in meeting the retirement-related financial needs of the mass affluent. Ameriprise Financial ranked only 10th out of 13 in overall client satisfaction in a 2006 J.D. Power & Associates survey of full service financial advisory firms.[1] In a 2006 survey of over 37,000 US companies, BusinessWeek ranked Ameriprise Financial as the 19th best place to launch a career.[2] As of 6/26/2007, Morningstar has given a Stewardship Grade of 'C' to Ameriprise and has given a star rating of 1 star out of a possible 5.[citation needed]

Ameriprise Advisors

Many Ameriprise advisors are Certified Financial Planners. Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc. has the largest number of these professionals among any retail advisory force.

An Ameriprise financial advisor earns a living by charging clients for financial advice and selling products. There are three ways Ameriprise financial advisors can affiliate with Ameriprise Financial. Approximately 60% of Ameriprise financial advisors are independent contractor franchisees — they are not employed by Ameriprise Financial. They are licensed registered representatives of Ameriprise Financial and do not receive a salary from the company. About one-quarter of financial advisors are employed by Ameriprise Financial ("employee financial advisors"). The company also has associate financial advisors. These financial advisors are employed by the independent contractor franchisees.

Ameriprise financial advisors are broker/dealers.

Fee structure

Ameriprise Financial charges clients a flat fee for a personal financial plan, which typically ranges from $500 - $5,000.[3]

Ameriprise Financial and its advisors also receive commissions when they sell their clients mutual funds, annuities, insurance, and various other investment products.

Criticism & controversy

In 2005, Ameriprise agreed to pay a $12.3 million to settle NASD charges relating to favorable treatment allegedly given to some mutual funds in exchange for brokerage business.[4]

In mid-2005, the State of New Hampshire reached a $7.4 million settlement with American Express Financial Advisors, at the time the largest securities enforcement action in the state's history. The state alleged the company had violated the law by rewarding their financial advisers for recommending underperforming in-house mutual funds to clients.[5]

Also in 2005, Ameriprise Financial entered into a $15 million settlement with the SEC for charges of market timing. The settlement addressed practices between January 2002 and August 2003. The SEC accused the company of failing to prevent market-timing— even after amending its prospectus to include explicit prohibitions against the practice. The SEC alleged that after January 2002, when American Express Financial Corporation banned market-timing, the funds still allowed shareholders to rapidly trade the funds, and that some employees rapidly traded through their 401(k) plans. The National Association of Securities Dealers fined Ameriprise an additional $12.3 million and the Minnesota Department of Commerce levied an additional $2 million in fines for similar violations.[6]

Ameriprise did not disclose this incident to the shareholders of its funds, marketed under the name RiverSource since being spun off from American Express. American Express made a disclosure in its regulatory filings, but these were seen only by American Express stockholders. Ameriprise, having become a separate company, had also not revealed which funds were timed, or the names of the people involved and the exact nature of the disciplinary action taken. Morningstar temporarily reduced the stewardship grade for Ameriprise's funds, although it did not impact the fund's overall star ratings from that firm.[7]

In 2006, the NASD threatened to suspend the company for failing to pay an arbitration award to a former broker.[8]

In September, 2006, Securities America, the brokerage unit of Ameriprise, reached a $16.3 million settlement with a group of Exxon Mobil Corp. retirees for failing to supervise an associated broker.[9][10]

On July 11, 2007, in the first case of its kind, the NASD fined Securities America $375,000 for improperly sharing directed brokerage commissions from a mutual fund company with a former Securities America broker in the Los Angeles area. The NASD action was a first in the area of directed brokerage commissions; Securities America directed brokerage specifically for the benefit of an individual broker.[11]

Another NASD arbitration panel awarded $9.3 million to three retired American Airlines pilots against Securities America and a formerly associated broker for allegedly mishandling their savings. Other airline pilots have arbitration claims pending.[12]

Securities America was also fined $5.4 million in 2003 for letting a broker who worked under a false name in its Orlando, office and allegedly made bogus investments.[13]


Competitors

See also

Notes

  1. ^ "2006 Full Service Investor Satisfaction Study" (Press release). JD Powers and Associates.
  2. ^ Gerdes, Lindsey (2006-09-18). "The Best Places To Launch A Career". BusinessWeek. The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. Retrieved 2007-01-17. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ "Ameriprise Homepage".
  4. ^ Reuters (2005-12-28). "NASD collects record $125.4 m in '05 fines". The Boston Globe. The New York Times Company. Retrieved 2007-02-09. {{cite news}}: |author= has generic name (help); Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ "Amex Settles With N.H. for $7.4 Million". WCIV. Associated Press. 2005-07-12. Retrieved 2007-09-26. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ Nicole Garrison-Sprenger (staff writer) (December 5 2005). "NASD, state fine Ameriprise $14.3 million". Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ Dutta, Arijit (2005-12-08). "Ameriprise Settles with SEC— Our opinion of this scandal-hit fund family just slid a few rungs". Morningstar, Inc. Retrieved 2007-02-05. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ^ Kelly, Bruce (2006-03-13). "NASD to Ameriprise: Pay up or shut down". Investment News. Crain Communications Inc. Retrieved 2007-02-09. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  9. ^ "Securities America not off the hook yet?". Investment News. 2007. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  10. ^ "Motion to Modify $22 Million Arbitration Award Against Ameriprise Financial Brokerage Arm, Securities America, Denied by Federal Judge in Louisiana" (Press release). PR Newswire Association LLC. 2006-09-14. Retrieved 2007-02-05. {{cite press release}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  11. ^ News Release
  12. ^ "Panel Rules Against Ameriprise". The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones. 2006-12-27. Retrieved 2007-09-26. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  13. ^ Cowan, Lynn (2003). "American Express broker used stolen identity". USAToday. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)


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