Winthrop & Co.

Ameriprise Financial

Independent broker-dealer·Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE: AMP), Advice & Wealth Management

Ameriprise Financial is a publicly traded wealth manager with more than 10,500 financial advisors at the end of 2025, organized into an employee channel, the Ameriprise Advisor Group, and an independent franchise channel, the Ameriprise Franchise Group, plus a program for banks and credit unions. An advisor affiliates as a W-2 employee or as an independent franchisee who owns the practice and operates under the Ameriprise name.

10,500+
Advisors, year-end 2025
[1]
$1.2T
Client assets
[1]
91
Recruited, Q4 2025
[2]
304
Departures, H1 2026
[3]

Facts last reviewed Sep 10, 2026. Every figure on this page carries a numbered source.

01 · Destination profile

What Ameriprise Financial is

Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE: AMP), Advice & Wealth Management

  • Ameriprise Financial, Inc. is a public company listed on the NYSE under AMP. Its 2025 annual report states that the advisor force grew to more than 10,500 at year end, that client assets grew 13 percent to a record $1.2 trillion, and that adjusted operating net revenue per advisor reached $1.1 million.[1]
  • Ameriprise describes three channels: the Ameriprise Franchise Group of independent contractors, the Ameriprise Advisor Group of employees, and the Ameriprise Financial Institutions Group serving regional banks and credit unions.[1]
  • In the fourth quarter of 2025, 91 experienced advisors moved their practices to Ameriprise, and Advice & Wealth Management total client assets reached $1.2 trillion with client flows of $13.3 billion in the quarter.[2]

02 · Destination profile

How an advisor affiliates

The channels, in the firm's own terms.

Ameriprise Franchise Group

1099 franchisee, owns the practice

The franchisee is an independent contractor, not an employee, who runs their own business, picks their own office and carries the costs, while paying Ameriprise an initial franchise fee and ongoing fees for the brand, platform, technology, compliance and support.[4]

Ameriprise Advisor Group

W-2 employee

The employee channel, with firm-owned client relationships, as Ameriprise describes it in its annual report.[1]

Ameriprise Independent Advisors

1099, independent

Ameriprise's recruiting page for this channel states performance-based payout rates from 72 to 91 percent of gross dealer concession, equity ownership opportunities, up-front and back-end bonus programs, succession planning resources and financing for practice acquisition.[5]

Ameriprise Financial Institutions Group

Bank and credit union programs

The channel serving regional banks and credit unions, per the 2025 annual report.[1]

03 · Destination profile

The economics, as publicly reported

Published ranges and filings, not an offer. What a specific practice is offered is a question for the room.

  • Ameriprise's own recruiting materials put independent-channel payout at 72 to 91 percent of gross dealer concession, with initial fixed payouts for a guaranteed term based on multiple factors.[5]
  • Ameriprise's balance of recruiting loans owed to advisors rose 200 percent from 2018 to $1.67 billion at the end of 2025.[6]
  • Adjusted operating net revenue per advisor on a trailing twelve-month basis reached $1.1 million in 2025, up 8 percent.[2]

04 · Destination profile

Protocol for Broker Recruiting

Membership per the official J.S. Held list, with the joinder qualifications that matter on the day you resign.

Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC has been a Protocol for Broker Recruiting member since June 11, 2009, re-executing its joinder agreement on September 24, 2013, with joinder qualifications; Ameriprise Advisor Services, Inc. joined the same day, also with qualifications. The qualifications are in J.S. Held's master list and are worth reading before a move in either direction.[7]

What the Protocol does and does not protect: the explainer.

05 · Advisor movement

Who actually moved, from registration records

The only judgment on this page, and it is a count. Producing advisors, first half of 2026.

304
Departed

The H1 2026 ledger measured this firm's outflow only; inflow was not separately tallied, so no join or net figure is stated. Reported joins below come from trade-press tracking.

PeriodJoinedDepartedNetDirect breakaways
H1 2026, producing advisors, Ameriprise Financial Services (outflow measured; inflow not separately tallied)n.d.304n.d.n.d.[3]

Reported teams that joined in 2026

From trade-press reporting tracked daily; each row links its source. Not every move is reported.

06 · Destination profile

Who tends to move there

The pattern in the record. A pattern, not a recommendation.

Ameriprise appears on both sides of the movement record. In Winthrop & Co.'s ledger for the first half of 2026 it recorded 304 producing-advisor departures, while among tracked Edward Jones and Northwestern Mutual team moves it was one of the three most frequent destinations, and the firm itself reported recruiting 91 experienced advisors in the fourth quarter of 2025. The advisors who move there tend to come from captive or insurance-affiliated channels and want a franchise they own under a national brand, with the firm's planning-led model and its financing for practice acquisition as the draw. The advisors who leave tend to be independents who have outgrown the franchise fee for what it buys.

07 · Destination profile

The twelve diligence questions, applied

The list from how to choose a platform, answered where the public record answers and left as the question where it does not.

8 of 12

questions about Ameriprise Financial are not answered anywhere public. They are answered in the room, for a specific practice, and the answers move the number more than anything above.

01What are the actual terms of the custody agreement, at my asset mix?
Asked in the room
02What is the cash sweep arrangement, and who keeps the spread?
Asked in the room
03What is the all-in cost, in basis points and in dollars, at my revenue and asset mix?
The published starting point is the payout range of 72 to 91 percent of gross dealer concession in the independent channel. The franchise fee and ongoing fees that sit against it are set out in the Franchise Disclosure Document, which is the authority; secondary sources report them inconsistently.[4]
04What is bundled, and what is charged separately?
Asked in the room
05What moves the number over time?
Asked in the room
06Who owns the client data, contractually, and in what form do I get it if I leave?
Asked in the room
07Who holds the technology contracts?
Asked in the room
08Whose ADV is it?
A franchisee operates under the Ameriprise Financial Services registration and brand as an independent contractor; an Advisor Group advisor is an employee with firm-owned client relationships.[1]
09What happens if the platform is sold?
Asked in the room
10Who owns the platform, and what is their exit horizon?
Public shareholders, through Ameriprise Financial, Inc. on the NYSE.[1]
11How do I leave, and what does it cost?
Asked in the room
12What do I take with me?
Ameriprise Financial Services is a Protocol member with joinder qualifications, so client information moves under the Protocol between member firms subject to those qualifications; the franchise agreement governs the practice itself.[7]

08 · Destination profile

Questions advisors ask about Ameriprise Financial

How many advisors does Ameriprise have?
More than 10,500 at the end of 2025, per the firm's 2025 annual report, across an employee channel, an independent franchise channel and a financial institutions channel.
What is the Ameriprise franchise model?
The franchisee is an independent contractor who owns and runs the practice under the Ameriprise name, pays an initial franchise fee and ongoing fees for the brand, platform, technology, compliance and support, and earns a performance-based payout that Ameriprise's materials put at 72 to 91 percent of gross dealer concession.
Is Ameriprise in the Broker Protocol?
Yes, with qualifications. Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC has been a member since June 11, 2009, re-executing its joinder in 2013, per J.S. Held's member list dated September 8, 2026.
Does Ameriprise pay transition packages to advisors who join?
Yes. Its recruiting loan balance was $1.67 billion at the end of 2025, up 200 percent since 2018, per Financial Planning, and the firm's own materials describe up-front and back-end bonus programs. The size of a specific offer is a diligence question.
Are advisors joining or leaving Ameriprise?
Both. The firm reported 91 experienced advisors joining in the fourth quarter of 2025 alone, and among tracked Edward Jones and Northwestern Mutual team moves it is one of the three most frequent destinations. Winthrop & Co.'s registration-based ledger also recorded 304 producing-advisor departures from Ameriprise Financial Services in the first half of 2026.
Is Ameriprise a good firm for a financial advisor?
That depends on the practice. The public record shows a planning-led franchise model an advisor can own, a published payout range, active recruiting with financing for practice acquisition, and meaningful departures in the same period. Which of those facts matters most is a question about your book and what you want to own.

Sources

7 numbered sources behind this page
  1. [1] Ameriprise Financial 2025 Annual Report, Ameriprise Financial, Sep 10, 2026.
  2. [2] Ameriprise Financial Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Results, Ameriprise Financial Investor Relations, Sep 10, 2026.
  3. [3] The State of Advisor Movement, H1 2026 (Winthrop & Co. with FINTRX; BrokerCheck registrations), Winthrop & Co., Jul 23, 2026.
  4. [4] Inside the Ameriprise Franchise: How the Independent Financial Advisor Model Works, Avisen Legal, Jul 2, 2026.
  5. [5] Ameriprise Independent Advisors, Join Ameriprise, Ameriprise Financial, Sep 10, 2026.
  6. [6] Recruiting loans reveal headcount winners, and more, Financial Planning, May 19, 2026.
  7. [7] The Broker Protocol Member Firms list, dated September 8, 2026, J.S. Held, Sep 8, 2026.

Winthrop & Co. is compensated by firms when an advisor joins through us. The advisor never pays. We have working relationships with several of the firms profiled here, which is why every figure on these pages carries its source and why we do not rank firms. The right firm is a question about your practice, not a league table.