Ameriprise 2015 Annual Report Download - page 74

amounts. Amounts are net of benefit payments recovered or expected to be recovered under reinsurance contracts.
Benefits under variable annuity guarantees include the changes in fair value of GMWB and GMAB embedded derivatives
and the derivatives hedging these benefits, as well as the changes in fair value of derivatives hedging GMDB provisions.
Benefits, claims, losses and settlement expenses also include amortization of DSIC.
Amortization of DAC
Direct sales commissions and other costs capitalized as DAC are amortized over time. For annuity and UL contracts, DAC
are amortized based on projections of estimated gross profits over amortization periods equal to the approximate life of the
business. For other insurance products, DAC are generally amortized as a percentage of premiums over amortization
periods equal to the premium-paying period.
Interest and Debt Expense
Interest and debt expense primarily includes interest on corporate debt and debt of CIEs, the impact of interest rate
hedging activities and amortization of debt issuance costs.
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.
Assets Under Management and Administration
Assets under management (‘‘AUM’’) include external client assets for which we provide investment management services,
such as the assets of the Columbia Management funds and Threadneedle funds, assets of institutional clients and assets
of clients in our advisor platform held in wrap accounts as well as assets managed by sub-advisers selected by us. AUM
also includes 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 the
variable product funds held in the separate accounts of our life insurance subsidiaries and CIEs. These assets do not
include assets under advisement, for which we provide model portfolios but do not have full discretionary investment
authority. Corporate & Other AUM primarily includes former bank assets that are managed within our Corporate & Other
segment.
Assets under administration (‘‘AUA’’) 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 revenues 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. AUA also includes 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. These assets do not include assets
under advisement, for which we provide model portfolios but do not have full discretionary investment authority.
The following table presents detail regarding our AUM and AUA:
December 31,
2015 2014 Change
(in billions)
Assets Under Management and Administration
Advice & Wealth Management AUM $ 179.5 $ 174.1 $ 5.4 3%
Asset Management AUM 471.9 505.6 (33.7) (7)
Corporate & Other AUM 0.7 0.8 (0.1) (13)
Eliminations (23.1) (21.9) (1.2) (5)
Total Assets Under Management 629.0 658.6 (29.6) (4)
Total Assets Under Administration 147.7 147.6 0.1 —
Total AUM and AUA $ 776.7 $ 806.2 $ (29.5) (4)%
Total AUM decreased $29.6 billion, or 4%, to $629.0 billion as of December 31, 2015 compared to $658.6 billion as of
December 31, 2014 due to a $33.7 billion decrease in Asset Management AUM driven by net outflows, retail fund
distributions and a negative impact of foreign currency translation and a $5.4 billion increase in Advice & Wealth
Management AUM driven by wrap account net inflows, partially offset by market depreciation. See our segment results of
operations discussion below for additional information on changes in our AUM.
52