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.
See a breakdown of the largest brokerage firms -- and the percentage of CFPs in the total adviser force.
Critics want regulators to zero in on 'little cancers' -- instruments that confuse buyers and generate large fees
The Massachusetts Securities Division today filed a complaint against Securities America Inc., charging that the broker-dealer and subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial Inc. misled investors when it sold them private-placement securities.
Here are two lists on the total account asset amounts at the largest independent broker-dealers, based on information that <i>InvestmentNews</i> has gathered directly from the firms that participated in the annual survey.
Investors filed a class action yesterday against Securities America Inc. — a subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial Inc — and CapWest Securities Inc., alleging that the two firms falsely represented private placement investments and used incoming assets to pay dividends to investors in older investments.
Fund manager sees 65% boost in profits in the first quarter -- thanks to rising stock prices, positive asset flows
Until now, Ameriprise has confined its reps to selling the firm's own proprietary VA investments.
Big brokerage firms appear to have taken a break from their costly musical-chairs game of broker recruitment, according to executives and headhunters.
Ameriprise Financial Inc. Chairman and CEO James M. Cracchiolo saw his total compensation grow 52 percent in 2009 to $18.2 million, largely because he earned a cash incentive after receiving no such award the previous year.
A broker at HighTower Advisors LLC, the startup with the sterling pedigree, has been sued over the sale of private notes into a feeder fund for what turned out to be a massive Ponzi scheme.
The mutual fund industry has long been dominated by a handful of companies, but continuing fallout from the recent market downturn and other structural factors have created opportunities for nimbler, smaller companies to gain more business.
Roth IRA conversions should be discussed with most investors this year as part of their overall retirement planning strategy.
