Ameriprise Financial
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| Ameriprise Financial, Inc. | |
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| Type | Public (NYSE: AMP) |
| Founded | 1894 |
| Founder | John Tappan |
| Headquarters | Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA |
| Key people | James Cracchiolo, Chairman & CEO |
| Industry | Financial services |
| Products | Investments |
| Website | www.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.
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[edit] History
Ameriprise Financial began life as Investors' 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 fourth largest financial advisory firm in the United States. 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 sixth out of ten in overall client satisfaction in a 2007 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.
[edit] 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 brokers.
[edit] Fee structure
Ameriprise Financial charges clients a flat fee for a personal financial plan.[citation needed]
Ameriprise Financial and its advisors also receive commissions when they sell their clients mutual funds, annuities, insurance, and various other investment products.
[edit] 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.[3]
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.[4]
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 Minnesota Department of Commerce levied $2 million in fines for similar market timing violations. The National Association of Securities Dealers fined Ameriprise an additional $12.3 million for unsuitable share sales.[5][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]
[edit] Competitors
- T. Rowe Price
- The Charles Schwab Corporation
- Merrill Lynch
- Morgan Stanley
- Linsco/Private Ledger
- The Vanguard Group
- American Century Investments
- E*TRADE
- Scottrade
- Fidelity Investments
- Primerica Financial Services
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ JD Powers and Associates. "Financial Advisor Satisfaction Study". Press release.
- ^ Gerdes, Lindsey. "The Best Places To Launch A Career", BusinessWeek, The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc., 2006-09-18. Retrieved on 2007-01-17.
- ^ Reuters. "NASD collects record $125.4 m in '05 fines", The Boston Globe, The New York Times Company, 2005-12-28. Retrieved on 2007-02-09.
- ^ "Amex Settles With N.H. for $7.4 Million", WCIV, Associated Press, 2005-07-12. Retrieved on 2007-09-26.
- ^ Nicole Garrison-Sprenger (staff writer). "NASD, state fine Ameriprise $14.3 million", Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal, December 5, 2005.
- ^ "National Association of Securities Dealers: 2005 in Review" (December 2005). PRNewswire.
- ^ Dutta, Arijit. "Ameriprise Settles with SEC— Our opinion of this scandal-hit fund family just slid a few rungs.", Morningstar, Inc., 2005-12-08. Retrieved on 2007-02-05.
- ^ Kelly, Bruce. "NASD to Ameriprise: Pay up or shut down", Investment News, Crain Communications Inc., 2006-03-13. Retrieved on 2007-02-09.
- ^ "Securities America not off the hook yet?" (January 15 2007). Investment News.
- ^ PR Newswire Association LLC. (2006-09-14). "Motion to Modify $22 Million Arbitration Award Against Ameriprise Financial Brokerage Arm, Securities America, Denied by Federal Judge in Louisiana". Press release. Retrieved on 2007-02-05.
- ^ News Release
- ^ "Panel Rules Against Ameriprise", The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones, 2006-12-27. Retrieved on 2007-09-26.
- ^ Cowan, Lynn (August 8 2003). "American Express broker used stolen identity" (subscription required). USAToday.
[edit] External links
- Ameriprise Financial - Official Site
- Ameriprise Investor Relations
- FINRA Brokercheck Page
- JD Power ranking of online brokers
- Financial fact sheet and history. Ameriprise.
- Ameriprise Financial (October 3, 2006). "2006 Ameriprise Financial Completes First Year as an Independent, Public Company". Press release.
- NASD (October 26, 2005). "NASD Fines Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc. $500,000 for Supervisory Violations in 529 College Savings Plan Sales". Press release.
- Ameriprise Financial (May 25, 2005). "Ameriprise Financial Chosen as New Name for American Express Financial Advisors". Press release.
- Ameriprise Financial (February 1, 2005). "American Express to Spin Off Financial Advisors Business to Shareholders". Press release.
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