Ameriprise boasts $1B AI spend as rivals race for tech leadership

Ameriprise Financial reaffirmed on Monday that it will keep up its investments in technology, particularly in AI, as the firm joins a broader industry race to keep advisors productive and clients engaged.

The Minneapolis-based wealth manager said it has been pouring $1 billion a year into technology, with artificial intelligence now sitting at the center of that spending. The goal, it said, is to build AI directly into advisor workflows without displacing the human relationships that anchor the business.

"We know that rapid advances in AI are reshaping expectations for what a premium client and advisor experience should be," Chairman and Chief Executive Jim Cracchiolo told analysts on the firm's second-quarter earnings call. The years Ameriprise has spent building an interconnected data and technology base, he said, are now paying off as the firm is able to roll out new capabilities quickly.

Gerard Smyth, the firm's executive vice president and head of technology and service delivery, said AI is being layered across the advisor experience "to help advisors reduce friction, scale their practices and deliver more personalized advice."

Read more: The rise of the super advisor: How AI is redefining competitive advantage in wealth management

The company said advisors using its AI-powered insight tools have already seen a meaningful lift in net new asset flows, though it did not disclose a specific figure publicly.

The firm is also applying AI to fraud prevention, voice authentication and faster service resolution behind the scenes, while training advisors and support staff to fold the tools into daily workflows rather than treating them as a bolt-on.

Other broker-dealer giants are making their own bets on AI. Earlier this month, Raymond James touted its own continued tech investment – including $1.1 billion this year – that's led to early successes such as its proprietary AI assistant, Raimond; a AI-powered meeting manager integrated with the RayJay CRM; its AI academy with training and resources for advisors; and cybersecurity enhancements supported by AI-driven analytics and automation.

Read more: Raymond James taps Vanguard's chief architect to drive AI strategy

A national survey Edward Jones ran with Morning Consult found that 82% of advisors are already using AI in their practice, and that more than half see the technology mainly as a way to free up time for higher-value client conversations rather than a threat to their job. The privately held firm said it is embedding AI into its own systems by automating repetitive tasks, and freeing practice teams to focus on higher-value activities.

"Supporting advisors with AI is crucial as they seek to expand the depth of their client relationships and the reach of their practices," said Jason Henderson, principal, FA Growth & Innovation at Edward Jones.

In February, LPL announced its partnership with Anthropic to bring Claude-based tools to its network of more than 30,000 advisors.

Beyond their efforts at enterprise AI investment, broker-dealers are facing their fair share of risks from the technology, particularly as investors weigh the prospects of AI displaciong the lucrative lines of business that their advisors have historically been able to rely on.