Ameriprise advisor channels to consolidate under one leader as veteran exec retires

Ameriprise Financial is merging oversight of its employee and independent contractor advisor businesses under a single executive, a reorganization triggered by the planned retirement of a 34-year company veteran.

Pat O'Connell, who has served as president of the Ameriprise Advisor Group and the Ameriprise Financial Institutions Group, plans to step down on June 1, according to reporting by Barron's citing industry media.

Bill Williams, the executive who has led the firm's independent contractor channel since 2008, will assume O'Connell's responsibilities while continuing to run the Ameriprise Independent Advisors business, giving him oversight over just north of 10,000 advisors in all.

"After 34 years with the firm, Pat O'Connell has decided to retire this summer as part of a thoughtful transition," Ameriprise said in a statement. "We wish him all the best in his retirement and thank him for his exceptional service to our clients, advisors, employees, and the firm."

The consolidation gives Williams control over both of Ameriprise's primary advisor units – the franchise channel, where more than 8,100 advisors operate as 1099 contractors, and the employee channel, which encompasses roughly 2,200 W-2 advisors. He will also take the reins of the financial institutions group, which provides brokerage and advisory services through partnerships with regional banks and credit unions, as well as the firm's experienced advisor recruiting operation.

Ameriprise entered the bank-broker space in 2017 when it acquired Investment Professionals, a San Antonio-based independent broker-dealer that at the time had about 200 advisors across 140 financial institutions. O'Connell oversaw the integration of that business.

Williams joined Ameriprise in 1989 as a financial advisor and rose through a series of field leadership roles before taking over the independent channel nearly two decades ago. O'Connell followed a similar career arc, starting as an advisor before being promoted to senior vice president overseeing the employee business in the eastern US in 2009. He took on the Ameriprise Advisor Group president role in February 2013.

The leadership change arrives during a stretch of strong results in Ameriprise's wealth management arm. According to the broker-dealer giant's 2025 earnings release in January, the advice and wealth management segment posted pretax adjusted operating earnings of $926 million, up 13% year over year, on a margin of 29.3%.

Total client assets climbed 13% to $1.17 trillion, and wrap net inflows reached $12.1 billion. Adjusted operating net revenue per advisor hit a trailing 12-month high of $1.1 million, an 8% gain. The firm also recruited 91 experienced advisors during the quarter.

In a JD Power survey report last month, Ameriprise emerged among the top-ranked firms for investor satisfaction, taking third place behind US Bank and Edward Jones based on the scorecard for advised investors.

Ameriprise has come in the sights of regulatory and legal authorities as well in the past few months, having disclosed a phishing-related data breach to Maine's Attorney General in January and more recently getting hit with a FINRA penalty for shortfalls in the supervision of annuity sales by its advisors.