Ameriprise Financial, Inc. () is a company offering financial advice and products. It is the successor to American Express Financial Advisors (AEFA), which was a subsidiary of the American Express Company. In 2005, American Express launched the spin-off of AEFA as an independent company. The new name came into effect August 1 2005, and the transaction closed on September 30 2005. James Cracchiolo is the chairman and chief executive officer of Ameriprise. The company's headquarters are in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

History

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Ameriprise Financial's predecessor was founded in 1894 as "Investors Syndicate" by John Tappan. In 1949, the company changed its name to "Investors Diversified Services." In 1984, American Express bought the company and, in 1994, began using the "American Express Financial Advisors" name exclusively. On October 1, 2005, American Express spun-off AEFA, which then became "Ameriprise Financial," a completely separate publicly traded company. Ameriprise Financial was the 6th largest spinoff in history.

Ameriprise Financial is the 4th largest financial advisory firm in the US. The company has over 12,000 advisors and 2.8 million clients. The company has more Certified Financial Planners than any other company, according to the CFP Board of Standards, but ranked 10th in overall client satisfaction in a 2006 JD Powers & Associates survey of full service financial advisory firms.

SEC settlements

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On Dec 2, 2005, Ameriprise Financial entered into a $15 million settlement with the SEC.

On May 15th, 2006, Ameriprise also lost an arbitration trial.

Commissions and Referral Fees

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Ameriprise charges clients a flat fee for a personal financial plan.

See also

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• RiverSource

External links

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• Ameriprise Financial Web Site
• Ameriprise Financial fact sheet and history
• Press Release: "American Express to Spin Off Financial Advisors Business to Shareholders" (February 1 2005)
• Press Release: "Ameriprise Financial Chosen as New Name for American Express Financial Advisors" (May 25 2005)
• Morningstar, Inc. report on regulatory lapses at Ameriprise funds
• Complaint website and message boards pertaining to Ameriprise and alleged breaches of fiduciary responsibility to clients

S&P 500