Ameriprise recruiting stalls in Q2

Ameriprise Financial Inc. said on Tuesday morning it had recruited 42 experienced financial advisers for the three months ending in June, or close to half its typical target of about 80 per quarter.

Ameriprise CEO James Cracchiolo pointed to a "confluence" of reasons for the adviser recruiting slowdown in a call with analysts Tuesday to discuss second quarter earnings, including questions about the reopening of businesses and offices in this period of the Covid-19 pandemic and the stock market's performance.

"As we went through the quarter, we didn’t expect it to slow down as much," Cracchiolo said. He was optimistic, however, about Ameriprise bringing in new advisers for the rest of the year.

"Right now, our pipeline looks really good, and we feel like we’ll get back to those numbers," he said, referring to prior quarters in which the firm had recruited closer to 80 financial advisers.

"Is there a competitive market?" Cracchiolo asked. "Absolutely. But the second quarter, I attribute to a confluence of factors."

When the pandemic hit in the first half of 2020, broker and financial adviser recruiting slowed down considerably, as businesses shut down face-to-face meetings and got virtual and online technology up to speed. It gained momentum in the second half of the year but remains to be seen how broker and financial moves will shake out in 2021.

According to InvestmentNews’ Advisers on the Move Database, which tracks registered reps and advisers as they transition between firms, total moves of experienced advisers fell 24% in 2020. That calculation includes advisers who transitioned as part of a merger or an acquisition, but excludes moves between related firms.

Meanwhile, Ameriprise reported 10,047 financial advisers across its platform at the end of June, compared to 9,894 a year earlier, an increase of 153 advisers or 1.5%.

Revenue per adviser was $197,000 for the second quarter, an increase of 27% when compared to 12 months earlier, when the firm reported per adviser revenue of $155,000.

Total client assets in the wealth management segment increased 28% to $807 billion, with total client asset flows of $9.5 billion in the second quarter.