Ameriprise reports robust hiring of advisers despite market turbulence

Ameriprise Financial Inc.'s second-quarter results exemplified large firms' continued appetite to hire financial advisers in the face of this year's turbulent markets, with the financial planning giant announcing Tuesday afternoon that it had hired 99 experienced financial advisers over the three months ending in June.

Over the first half of the year, the S&P 500 was down 20.6%, which could have signaled difficulties in hiring financial advisers. The recruiting market for advisers is still slightly below its pre-pandemic levels of 2019, and many advisers are reluctant to move to a new employer and take a recruiting bonus when they are managing clients' anxieties about the market.

But large firms like Ameriprise have recently reported success in hiring during the second quarter. Merrill Lynch, for example, saw its best quarter of hiring experienced financial advisers in a dozen years, reeling in 93 advisers over the three months that ended in June, according to a senior Merrill Lynch executive.

The total financial adviser head count at Ameriprise increased 2% in the second quarter compared June 2021, reaching 10,245. Adjusted operating net revenue per adviser on a trailing 12-month basis was $814,000, up 11% when compared to the same period last year.

“In wealth management, we’re generating good organic growth and results remain strong, with excellent client and adviser engagement around our advice value proposition," chairman and CEO James Cracchiolo said in a statement.

Total client assets declined 9% to $735 billion when compared to the same period last year, reflecting the broad market's depreciation. That drop was partially offset by client inflows, with net flows of $8.6 billion in the quarter, according to the company.

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