Ameriprise Financial - Ameriprise Advisors

Ameriprise Advisors

As of December 31, 2011, Ameriprise Financial reported as having more than 9,700 branded advisors, the fifth largest branded advisor force in the U.S. Ameriprise Financial advisors recommend actions and a broad range of product solutions consisting of investment, annuity, insurance, banking and other financial products to clients based on an appropriate range and level of risk. The financial advisors charge clients for financial advice and selling products. There are four ways the financial advisors affiliate with Ameriprise Financial:

• Approximately 60% of Ameriprise's financial advisors are independent contractor franchisees — they are not employed by Ameriprise, but are licensed registered representatives of Ameriprise and do not receive a salary from the parent company.
• About one quarter of financial advisors are employed by Ameriprise ("employee financial advisors"). Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc. has the largest number of these professionals among any retail advisory force. The majority of the employee advisors work in local offices like their franchisee counterparts.
• Over 120 of the employee advisors work within the corporate office in Minneapolis as part of the Ameriprise Advisor Center (AAC). These Advisors are fully licensed Securities and Insurance professionals that have received additional training which allows them to assist clients exclusively by telephone. They are required to hold the Series 7 and Series 63 Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) licenses, along with insurance licenses in all states they serve, and are encouraged to acquire their Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor (CRPC) professional designation from the College of Financial Planning, and are reimbursed for the cost.
• The company also has associate Financial Advisors, employed by the independent contractor franchisees.

Many Ameriprise advisors are Certified Financial Planners, and the company actively encourages attaining this designation. Many advisors also hold similar designations such as the CLU or ChFC.