Ameriprise 2009 Annual Report Download - page 62

Separation Costs
Separation costs include expenses related to our separation from American Express. These costs were primarily associated with
establishing the Ameriprise Financial brand, separating and reestablishing our technology platforms and advisor and employee retention
programs. Our separation from American Express was completed in 2007.
General and Administrative Expense
General and administrative expense includes compensation, share-based awards and other benefits for employees (other than employees
directly related to distribution, including financial advisors), professional and consultant fees, information technology, facilities and
equipment, advertising and promotion, legal and regulatory and corporate related expenses.
Owned, Managed and Administered Assets
Owned assets include certain assets on our Consolidated Balance Sheets for which we do not provide investment management services
and do not recognize management fees, such as investments in non-affiliated funds held in the separate accounts of our life insurance
subsidiaries, as well as restricted and segregated cash and receivables.
Managed assets include managed external client assets and managed owned assets. Managed external client assets include client assets
for which we provide investment management services, such as the assets of the RiverSource, Seligman and Threadneedle Asset
Management Holdings S` arl (‘‘Threadneedle’’) families of mutual funds, assets of institutional clients and client assets held in wrap
accounts. Managed external client assets also include assets managed by sub-advisors selected by us. Managed external client assets are
not reported on our Consolidated Balance Sheets. Managed owned assets include certain assets on our Consolidated Balance Sheets for
which we provide investment management services and recognize management fees in our Asset Management segment, such as the assets
of the general account and RiverSource Variable Product funds held in the separate accounts of our life insurance subsidiaries.
Investors in the mutual funds and face amount certificates we advise may redeem shares on each business day, provided that redemption
orders are submitted in a timely fashion. For our institutional clients, advisory contracts may generally be terminated (and managed
assets redeemed) upon 30 days’ written notice. However, we may in limited circumstances negotiate customized termination provisions
with certain clients during the contracting process, or we may waive negotiated notice periods at our discretion. Investors in the private
investment funds we sponsor can generally redeem shares as of each month end upon 30-days advance written notice, with limited
exceptions. In addition, the notice requirements for our private investment funds may be waived or reduced at the discretion of the
applicable fund.
Administered assets include assets for which we provide administrative services such as client assets invested in other companies’
products that we offer outside of our wrap accounts. These assets include those held in clients’ brokerage accounts. We generally record
fees received from administered assets as distribution fees. We do not exercise management discretion over these assets and do not earn a
management fee. These assets are not reported on our Consolidated Balance Sheets.
We earn management fees on our owned separate account assets based on the market value of assets held in the separate accounts. We
record the income associated with our owned investments, including net realized gains and losses associated with these investments and
other-than-temporary impairments related to credit losses on these investments, as net investment income. For managed assets, we
receive management fees based on the value of these assets. We generally report these fees as management and financial advice fees. We
may also receive distribution fees based on the value of these assets.
Our owned, managed and administered assets are impacted by net flows of client assets, market movements and foreign exchange rates.
Owned assets are also affected by changes in our capital structure.
ANNUAL REPORT 2009 47