Office address: 901 3rd Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55402
Website: ameriprise.com
Year established: 1894
Company type: financial services
Employees: 21,000+
Expertise: financial planning, investment management, retirement solutions, insurance, asset management, mutual funds, alternative investments, college savings, advisory services, structured products
Parent company: N/A
Key people: James Cracchiolo (CEO); Walter Berman (CFO); Gumer Alvero (president); William Davies (global chief investment officer); Deirdre McGraw, Heather Melloh, and Kelli Petruzillo (EVPs)
Financing status: corporation
Ameriprise Financial is a Minneapolis-based financial services company, serving more than 3.5 million clients and managing over $1.4 trillion in assets as of 2024. The firm offers financial planning, investment management, insurance, and retirement solutions. Ameriprise is known for its one-to-one advisor relationships and the Confident Retirement approach.
Ameriprise Financial began in 1894, when John Tappan, just 24 years old, founded Investors Syndicate. By the end of that first year, the company managed $2,500 in assets.
Over the next decades, Ameriprise grew through the Great Depression and paid every dollar owed to certificate owners, even as markets crashed and times were tough.
The company moved into mutual funds in 1940, starting with Investors Mutual Fund and adding more by 1945. In 1949, it adopted the name Investors Diversified Services, then joined American Express in 1984. By 1995, it operated as American Express Financial Advisors, with James Cracchiolo taking over as president and CEO in 2000.
The firm became an independent, publicly traded company in 2005 after one of the largest spin-offs in US history. It launched new brands, expanded its reach, and continued to acquire businesses, including H&R Block Financial Advisors during the Great Recession.
The company also introduced the Confident Retirement approach in 2014, which shaped its personalized advice model.
The company celebrated its 130th anniversary in 2024 as it marked more than a century of putting clients first. The company now manages over $1.4 trillion in assets and serves millions of clients.
In 2025, Ameriprise Financial welcomed The Atlantic Group from Oppenheimer. This team manages more than $1.6 billion in client assets, further strengthening the advisor network.
Ameriprise Financial provides personalized investment options to match different goals and risk levels:
Ameriprise Financial also provides digital tools for easy account access and goal tracking. Clients benefit from ongoing, personalized advice and a strong advisor relationship.
Ameriprise Financial says that it has a values-based and inclusive culture that supports individual differences and encourages achievement. The company also reports that it values work-life balance and career growth for its employees. Their stated values include:
Ameriprise Financial states employees receive competitive pay, incentives, and access to many workplace resources. Benefits include:
In terms of community impact, the firm donated $18 million in 2024 through grants, matching, and individual gifts. The company supported 7,800 nonprofits and recorded 50,000 volunteer hours that year as well. Since 2009, Ameriprise Financial has partnered with Feeding America to provide 124 million meals and nearly 408,000 volunteer hours.
James M. Cracchiolo is chairperson and CEO of Ameriprise Financial, leading a firm with a 130-year legacy. Cracchiolo has guided Ameriprise and its earlier company since 2000, building on over 45 years in financial services. He earned both his bachelor’s and MBA degrees from New York University.
The executive team at Ameriprise Financial includes leaders with deep experience and unique responsibilities:
The Ameriprise Financial leadership team works to build a client-focused culture and support a workforce of over 21,000 people. Their goal is to keep employees engaged and deliver strong results for clients.
In 2025, the firm began actively recruiting leading advisors from major firms, including Commonwealth. This strategy aims to expand Ameriprise Financial’s advisor network and strengthen its future offerings for clients.
Ameriprise also set a new record in its wealth division, reaching over $1 trillion in client assets during the third quarter of 2025. It grew advisor productivity to $1.1 million per advisor and welcomed 90 experienced advisors, which showed steady expansion. These results help the firm boost its financial position and support its growth.
Putting an end to a bitter dispute over the sale of failed private placements, Securities America Inc. has agreed to make whole 63 Massachusetts clients who bought $5 million of failed notes issued by Medical Capital Holdings Inc.
The besieged broker-dealer today agreed to a pivotal settlement with Massachusetts over soured MedCap private placements. The upshot? Investors are to to get 100% of their principal back.
With its long-running litigation woes seemingly coming to an end, Securities America suddenly faces a new challenge. Parent Ameriprise intends to unload the beleaguered B-D.
Just as financial advisers are embracing alternative investments as a way to generate income for clients, their chief regulator is warning them of the perils of one such type of offering: structured products
Whether Sallie Krawcheck's (pictured) Merrill Lynch brokers and Bank of America bankers can live happily ever after — and produce greater profits as a result of their marriage — is being put to the test at the nation's largest financial institution
Firms said to be on short list of acceptable buyers; PE outfit also thought to be lurking about
Silverman leaves on-the-block firm; second defection in June
Securities America Inc. last week took the unusual step of asking its 1,800 reps and advisers to sign a “letter of support” to indicate their intention to remain at the firm — a development that some observers took to mean that a sale of the troubled broker-dealer could be imminent.
Ameriprise Financial Inc. last week put on the block one of the most prominent independent broker-dealers in the industry, its subsidiary Securities America Inc., but no clear buyer has emerged
Bank of New York Mellon and Wells Fargo have both sued Securities America -- along with other B-Ds -- over the sales of MedCap private placements. In an internal e-mail obtained by <i>InvestmentNews</i>, here's what SA boss Jim Nagengast said about the litigation.
Financial services firms — many with operations in Japan — are opening their corporate pockets in response to the country's disasters.
Finra censures Amerprise after the firm purportedly discovered a broker who was allegedly forging client signatures -- but failed to boot him out of the company for over two years.
In a huge turning point for Securities America, the besieged brokerage and attorneys representing investors have purportedly agreed to settle lawsuits arising from the sale of soured private placements
A report today indicated that Ameriprise 'may' let Securities America go under. But sources tell InvestmentNews that plaintiffs lawyers have just made their first settlement proposal to Ameriprise.
Securities America reported an ugly $115 million loss in the first quarter, which may not seem overly appealing to potential buyers. Then again, most of the red ink was due to litigation costs. And with the B-D's legal troubles seemingly behind it, the brokerage could be poised for better days.
