Ameriprise eyes recruiting boost from ‘wirehouse fatigue’

Despite a tumultuous year, Ameriprise shifted into 'aggressive growth mode' with a 40% hike in recruiting.

Several large financial advisers have joined Ameriprise Financial Services Inc. this month, capping off a “very positive year of recruiting,” according to Manish Dave, senior director of business development.

Robert Norvell, an adviser with J.J.B. Hilliard W.L. Lyons LLC for the past 25 years, joined Ameriprise’s independent network of advisers Dec. 2. Mr. Norvell managed $121 million in assets at his former firm. Hilliard spokeswoman Chambers Moore confirmed Mr. Norvell’s departure.

The following week, independent adviser Lachlan Cameron, along with family members Fiona and Donald Cameron, also joined Ameriprise’s independent channel. Mr. Cameron, who manages $311 million in assets, is head of Cameron Murphy & Spangler Inc.

More recently, two other advisers joined the firm’s employee channel. Robert Adler, who formerly managed $64 million at Oppenheimer & Co. Inc., came on board Dec. 9. Mr. Adler worked at Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch prior to his employment at Oppenheimer.

The latest recruit is Barry Hess, who managed $68 million at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC and joined Ameriprise on Dec. 19.

Despite the messy litigation involved with subsidiary Securities America Inc., which was sold to Ladenburg Thalmann & Co. Inc. this year, Mr. Dave said recruiting at Ameriprise was up 40% from 2010.

“We’ve had a very good year and we feel positive heading into 2012,” Mr. Dave said. “Our multiplatform approach gives advisers options on how they want to affiliate with us.”

Ameriprise currently has just over 9,800 financial advisers, according to company spokesman Chris Reese, with roughly 7,700 of them in the independent network and 2,100 working as employees of the firm. At the end of the third quarter, the firm was managing $293.3 billion in client assets.

Mr. Dave is ramping up his recruiting operations further, expanding the number of regional directors at the firm to 17 recently, from 11. He sees his greatest opportunity at the wirehouses where he expects “wirehouse fatigue” to continue motivating advisers to leave the big firms. He is also targeting advisers in the regional and independent-broker-dealer channels.

“We are in aggressive-growth mode, and recruiting is going to be front and center for the firm in 2012,” Mr. Dave said.