NFL union taps Ameriprise to work with players

The NFL Players Association, which operates a unique program to provide its members with qualified financial advisors, said Tuesday that Ameriprise Financial is the latest firm to gain the union’s approval to work with current and retired players.

The NFLPA tapped Ameriprise as an "institutional financial advisor," the sixth such firm in its program. The NFLPA’s registered financial advisor program, which is more than two decades old, for years was limited to individual financial advisors. At the end of last year, there were more than 100 individual advisors in the program.

After a handful of instances of approved advisors getting into trouble, the program was expanded to include firms. The union approved Goldman Sachs and Bessemer Trust in 2019, Morgan Stanley and Bernstein Private Wealth a year later, and added UBS at the end of 2023.

"Something like this puts Ameriprise on the map in the competition among the regional firms and the independent broker-dealers, who are all competing to recruit and hire the wirehouse financial advisor," said Casey Knight, an industry recruiter and executive vice president of ESP Financial Search. "Working with professional athletes is a significant selling point and increases the value of the Ameriprise brand, particularly as the wirehouses are seeing competitors from every direction."

The problem financial advisors involved in the program in the past included Jeff Rubin, a one-time NFLPA approved advisor who recommended to 31 NFL players that they invest in a casino project that led to losses of $43 million. In 2013, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. barred Rubin from the industry in relation to the matter.

"Athletes have a unique financial situation: Their income potential is incredibly high, yet their on-field careers are very short compared to my other clients," said Andre Duffie, an Ameriprise financial advisor in West Chester, Pennsylvania. "Additionally, most athletes don’t know their ultimate retirement date.

"It could be their choice, otherwise injury and other roster moves by teams could make the choice for them," Duffie said. "Therefore, financial planning is paramount for professional athletes."

Football players are also a unique bunch when it comes to their finances: They have typically had a higher rate of bankruptcy than their compatriots who play professional baseball, basketball and hockey for a living. Their careers are shorter, they get paid less, and if they divorce after ending their careers, they often wind up paying alimony based on past, not current, earnings.

Add in the free-spending lifestyles of some players, and the financial planning picture is potentially a disaster.