Credit: Andrii Yalanskyi/Adobe Stock
Ameriprise Financial executives have wondered in the past whether the deals rivals were offering recruited advisors made sense.
But Walter Berman, the financial services company's chief financial officer, said Wednesday, at a conference in Miami organized by Bank of America, that the company is making some adjustments.
"We are basically changing our approach as to what we're willing to provide advisors to be competitive," Berman said at the conference.
Ameriprise believes it provides top technology services and other support services, and advisors are "willing to pay a premium for that," he said.
But independent broker-dealers and private equity firms are also making offers, and "we've re-looked at our situation as it relates to recruitment," he said.
What it means: The financial news may be gloomier, but financial services' companies interest in financial advisors is still strong.
The recruiting competition: Berman said the overall level of competition for advisors has been aggressive.
Now that U.S. interest rates are falling, the independent broker-dealers are still "aggressive, but in a more measured way," Berman said.
For an asset management business, Berman said, adding advisors is important.
"Attracting advisors is a key component of net new assets," he said.
Insurance: Berman also talked about the Ameriprise insurance operations.
Ameriprise started off as the insurance arm of American Express. The percentage of company activity coming from annuities, life insurance and other insurance products has fallen to 15%, down from 80% in 2005, when the company separated from American Express.
The insurance business "is an important contributor, because it provides solution set capabilities for our clients," Berman said. "That said, we are constantly evaluating manufacturing versus distribution."
Ameriprise moved out of the auto insurance and home insurance markets in the past. The company also has used reinsurance to transfer annuity risk, he said.
"But we've done that in a way where we ensure that our clients are protected," Berman said. "We didn't take the highest offer. We took the most appropriate offer."
Credit: Andrii Yalanskyi/Adobe Stock
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