Ameriprise 2014 Annual Report Download - page 24

Our Financial Advisor Platform
We provide clients financial planning, advice and brokerage services through our nationwide advisor network. Advisors can
choose to affiliate with us in two ways, with each affiliation offering different levels of support and compensation. The
affiliation options are:
•Employee Advisors. Under this affiliation, an advisor is an employee of our company and receives a higher level
of support, including leadership, training, office space and staff support. We pay compensation that is
competitive with other employee advisor models, which is generally lower than that of our franchisee advisors.
Employee advisors are also employed in the Ameriprise Advisor Center (‘‘AAC’’), our dedicated platform for
remote-based sales and service to Ameriprise retail customers. Advisors in the AAC utilize a team model to
service retail customers on a remote basis.
•Franchisee Advisors. Under this affiliation, an advisor is an independent contractor franchisee who affiliates
with our company and has the right to use the Ameriprise brand. We pay our franchisee advisors a higher
payout rate than our employee advisors as they are responsible for paying their own overhead, staff
compensation and other business expenses. In addition, our franchisee advisors pay a franchise association
fee and other fees in exchange for the support we offer and the right to use our brand name. The support we
offer to our franchisee advisors includes generalist and specialist leadership support, technology platforms and
tools, training and marketing programs.
We are committed to providing our advisors with the resources and support necessary to manage and grow their practices.
Our platform offers advisors the flexibility of operating on a commission-based brokerage basis as well as on a fee-based
advisory basis. Advisors have access to training and materials reflecting our differentiated financial planning model and
Confident Retirement planning approach, our nationally recognized brand and ‘‘Real Questions. Real Answers.’’ advertising
campaign, local marketing support capabilities and our full range of proprietary and non-proprietary product solutions. Our
demonstrated financial strength as well as our dedication to our clients also benefits our advisor practices. We expect to
continue to invest in the capabilities of and support provided to our advisor platform, with the goal of increasing advisor
productivity and improving on our ability to attract and retain advisors.
Our nationwide advisor network consisted of approximately 9,700 advisors as of December 31, 2014, which includes
approximately 2,100 employee advisors and 7,600 independent franchisees or employees or contractors of franchisees. Of
these advisors, 60% had been with us for more than 10 years, with an average tenure of over 19 years. Among advisors
who have been with us for more than 10 years, we have a retention rate of over 95%. We believe our strong advisor
retention rate, as well as our ability to recruit experienced advisors, speaks to the value proposition we offer our advisors.
Our advisors can offer clients a diversified set of cash and liquidity, asset accumulation, income, protection, and estate
and wealth transfer products and services, as well as a selection of products from other companies, as described below.
Brokerage and Investment Advisory Services
Individual and Family Financial Services
Our personalized financial planning approach is designed to focus on all aspects of our clients’ finances. After
understanding our clients’ needs, our advisors seek to identify solutions to address those needs across four cornerstones:
cash and liabilities, investments, protection and taxes. We believe this approach helps our clients build a solid financial
foundation, persevere through difficult economies and challenging markets, and ultimately achieve their financial goals. We
offer a broad array of products and services in each of these categories, including those carrying the Ameriprise Financial,
Columbia Management or RiverSource name, as well as solutions offered by unaffiliated firms.
Our advisors deliver financial solutions to our advisory clients principally by building long-term personal relationships
through financial planning that is responsive to clients’ evolving needs. We utilize the Certified Financial Planner Board of
Standards, Inc.’s defined financial planning process of Engage, Gather, Analyze, Recommend, Implement and Monitor. This
process involves gathering relevant financial information, setting life goals, examining clients’ current financial status and
determining a strategy or plan for helping clients meet their goals given their current situation and future plans. Once we
identify a financial planning client’s objectives, we then recommend a solution set consisting of actions — such as paying
down debt, increasing savings and investment, protecting income and assets, creating a will, and including tax-qualified
formats in the client’s allocation of savings and investment — as well as offer products to address these objectives with
clients accepting what they determine to be an appropriate range and level of risk. Our financial planning relationships with
our clients are characterized by an ability to understand their specific needs thoroughly, which enables us to help them
meet those needs, achieve high overall client satisfaction, hold more products in their accounts and increase our assets
under management.
In 2012, we introduced our Confident Retirement approach, which involves a comprehensive assessment of retirement
income sources and assets, a client’s plans and goals for retirement and an analysis of what is needed to fund the four
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