Ameriprise 2012 Annual Report Download - page 8

Asset Management assets
under management
in billions
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
$200 $243 $457 $436 $455
6 Ameriprise Financial Annual Report 2012
We continued to build on our record of creating advice-embedded
solutions, developing a new variable annuity rider in 2012 that
incorporates a fund designed to help clients manage exposure to
equity market volatility. We also made adjustments to product
pricing and features to align with the market environment. Initially,
variable annuity sales were slower as we trained our advisors,
but we began to see improvement toward the end of the year.
Importantly, we design all our annuity products to achieve our
targeted risk and return prole — balancing client benets with
appropriate shareholder returns.
We also recently enhanced our life insurance portfolio with our
new indexed universal life insurance product and reinvigorated our
variable universal life insurance product line. While sales have
lagged pre-recession levels, our product enhancements and advisor
training are generating improved results. Indexed universal life sales
were strong throughout 2012 and sales of our variable universal life
insurance began to pick up in the second half of the year.
In addition to the life and annuity products we offer our clients,
Ameriprise Auto & Home Insurance offers a broad suite of property
and casualty products primarily through afnity relationships. Our
team has built a great client value proposition, and in 2012, we
were able to deliver solid nancial results given a difcult storm
season that included superstorm Sandy. At the same time, we’re
growing our policy count steadily and remain focused on delivering
the high-quality service people expect from Ameriprise.
Combined, our insurance and annuity businesses enhance
shareholder value beyond their earnings and return contributions.
They enhance asset persistency — the length of time clients entrust
their assets to Ameriprise. Clients who hold life insurance and
annuity products have high satisfaction rates. And advisors who
meet their clients’ full nancial needs by incorporating insurance
and annuity products have stronger, more valuable practices than
advisors who are more transaction oriented.
Asset Management — a growth opportunity for Ameriprise
Through Columbia Management and Threadneedle Investments,
Ameriprise ranks among the world’s largest asset managers with
$455 billion in assets under management at year end. Columbia
primarily serves U.S. investors and is the eighth-largest manager
of long-term mutual funds. Threadneedle primarily serves European
investors and is the fourth-largest retail fund provider in the U.K.