Ameriprise reports more adviser hiring in third quarter

Ameriprise Financial Inc.'s third-quarter financial results Tuesday revealed its continued appetite for hiring financial advisers, with the company reporting that total head count rose 2% compared to September 2021, with the addition of 89 experienced advisers in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial's total adviser head count was 10,282 at the end of the third quarter.

In the second quarter, Ameriprise reported that it had hired 99 experienced financial advisers over the three months ending June 30.

Total client assets in the wealth management group at the end of September were $711 billion, down from $811 billion at the same time last year, a decline of 12%.

Ameriprise continued to increase revenue per adviser despite the headwinds of the currently stormy stock market, with the company reporting adjusted operating net revenue per adviser of $819,000 in the third quarter, versus $766,000 a year earlier, a 7% increase.

Total client net asset inflows for the wealth management business included $6.4 billion of flows into wrap accounts and $4.8 billion into non-advisory accounts, according to the company.

Ameriprise reported stronger adviser hiring and retention — at 94.4% of advisers — under the “franchisee” label, which it uses to designate financial advisers who work as independent contractors. Retention, a metric used by brokerage firms to demonstrate adviser and employee loyalty, is slightly less robust, at a rate of 91.9%, in the employee group, where head count dipped 1% during the quarter to 2,096.

A company spokesperson declined to comment when asked about the differences in retention among Ameriprise's employee and independent contractor financial advisers.

"We ensure that we have an excellent client experience, keeping our client satisfaction really high, and we really focus on helping good-quality advisers grow their practices and retain and build," CEO and chairman James Cracchiolo said Wednesday morning during a conference call with analysts to discuss earnings. "So we're going to continue to look and attract good advisers," along with spending time to bring in younger employees for adviser succession and to assist advisers building their teams, he said.