Ameriprise Financial reported record advisor productivity in a second quarter and showed modest gains in revenues and profit, as the advisory division ramps up for a new brand and advertising platform this fall.
Net income for Ameriprise Financial this quarter was $415 million, or $2.23 per diluted share, beating analysts’ expectations by $0.05, according to Seeking Alpha. Net revenues also beat estimates, growing to $3 billion, up a modest 2 percent from a year prior.
Chairman and CEO Jim Cracchiolo said in an earnings call Thursday that the Indianapolis-based firm’s Advice & Wealth Management division continues to “generate good earnings with strong margin.” This comes as Ameriprise is poised to launch a new brand and advertising platform. Cracchiolo said that the firm is shooting the ads for it this week and will be working closely with advisors to take advantage of the campaign in their local markets.
“I feel good about its potential to engage our advisors, clients and prospects in continuing to tell our story as well as demonstrate the benefits of working with Ameriprise,” he said, adding the firm is also enhancing its digital presence and incorporating responsive design into Ameriprise website to make it easier for consumers to access their information from multiple types of devices.
Here are the advisory business highlights:
- The Advice & Wealth Management division reported a second quarter operating income of $220 million, up 13 percent from the previous year due to strong revenue growth and expense controls, the firm said.
- Net revenues hit $1.27 billion, up 6 percent from the $1.2 billion reported a year ago.
- Client assets hit record high of $453 billion, up over $18 billion over the past year. Inflows into fee-based investment advisor accounts were $3.3 billion, up 9 percent from the previous quarter.
- Cracchiolo said this quarter was one of the firm’s best in terms of recruiting, with Ameriprise bringing 93 new experienced advisors onboard. The firm reported having 9,721 advisors as of the end of June, however, it was only a net gain of 30 advisors from the 9,691 who were with the firm at the end of the first quarter.
- Ameriprise advisors increased their productivity 9 percent year‐over‐year to a new record of $512,000 over a 12‐month basis.
