Ameriprise Financial, Inc.

John Tappan founded Investors Syndicate in Minneapolis, offering consumers face-amount investment certificates. This is the business origin that Ameriprise traces itself to, and it is a different stage from the establishment of the current legal entity and the later spin-off and listing.⁠[1][2][3]

Investors Syndicate entered the mutual fund market in 1940 and was renamed Investors Diversified Services in 1949. In 1957 it established Investors Syndicate Life Insurance and Annuity Company, which was renamed IDS Life Insurance Company in 1973.⁠[1]

The 2025 annual report states that the current company was incorporated in DelawareDelawareDelaware is a U.S. state in the Mid-Atlantic region on the East Coast, with its capital at Dover and Wilmington as its largest city. On December 7, 1787, it became the first state to ratify the U.S. Constitution, entering the Union as the 1st state, and it had a population of 989,948 in the 2020 census (April 1, 2020).Open the full entry in 1983, in connection with American Express’s acquisition of IDS Financial Services from Alleghany Corporation. The group website’s history timeline lists the acquisition of IDS by American Express under 1984. The two years correspond respectively to the incorporation of the legal entity and to the acquisition history, and cannot be substituted for each other.⁠[2][1]

The annual report records that the company was renamed American Express Financial Corporation in 1994 and began marketing under the American Express brand; the group website’s timeline separately lists IDS changing its public name to American Express Financial Advisors under 1995. The company’s legal name and the advisory business brand appear separately in the sources.⁠[2][1]

American Express Financial Advisors acquired Threadneedle Asset Management in the United Kingdom, expanding its international asset management business. Threadneedle later became an important part of Ameriprise’s global asset management platform.⁠[1][2]

American Express Financial Corporation was spun off from American Express, forming the independent Ameriprise Financial. On October 3, its shares began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker AMP; James M. Cracchiolo served as chairman and chief executive officer, and the company simultaneously launched the RiverSource insurance and annuity brand.⁠[2][1]

On September 18, the company announced the establishment of Ameriprise Bank, FSB, to offer lending, cash management, and personal trust services through the group’s financial advisor channel. The bank launched with assets of approximately $1.1 billion; the parent company’s history should not be conflated with the founding date of this bank subsidiary.⁠[4]

On November 3, Ameriprise announced that it had completed its cash acquisition of H&R Block Financial Advisors. The acquired business had more than 950 advisors in 135 office locations across the United States; these advisors were to join Ameriprise’s employee advisor platform.⁠[5]

On April 30, Ameriprise completed its acquisition of the long-term asset management business of Columbia Management from Bank of AmericaBank of AmericaBank of America Corporation is a bank holding company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, with four segments: Consumer Banking, Global Wealth & Investment Management, Global Banking and Global Markets.Open the full entry, and announced it publicly on May 3. The cash price disclosed at the time was approximately $1 billion; the U.S. asset management business was subsequently integrated under the Columbia brand, while Threadneedle continued as the international investment platform.⁠[6]

The company launched the Columbia Threadneedle Investments brand, bringing the asset management capabilities of Columbia in the United States and Threadneedle internationally under a common brand.⁠[1][2]

Ameriprise National Trust Bank was converted into Ameriprise Bank, FSB, to expand the banking services offered directly to clients. Ameriprise Financial thereby became a savings and loan holding company regulated by the Federal ReserveFederal Reserve SystemThe Federal Reserve System is the central bank of the United States. Created by the Federal Reserve Act of 1913, it consists of the Board of Governors in Washington, D.C., twelve regional Federal Reserve Banks and the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC).Open the full entry and elected to be treated as a financial holding company.⁠[2]

On October 1, the company announced that it had completed the sale of Ameriprise Auto & Home to American Family Insurance. Total cash proceeds were approximately $1.135 billion; after payments to partners, net proceeds were approximately $1.035 billion, still subject to post-closing financial adjustments. The company linked this exit to its focus on its wealth management and asset management businesses.⁠[7]

On November 8, BMO Financial Group confirmed that it had completed the sale to Ameriprise Financial of the entities representing its asset management business in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. The transaction expanded the scope of Columbia Threadneedle’s business.⁠[8][1]

In the Mehlman case, clients alleged that Ameriprise’s cash sweep arrangements paid excessively low interest rates. The ruling, signed on August 18 and filed on the 19th, named Ameriprise Financial and two brokerage affiliates as defendants: claims related to investment advisory services were ordered to arbitration, the breach of fiduciary duty claim was dismissed, and the claims for breach of contract, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and unjust enrichment may proceed. This is a procedural ruling in the litigation, not a final determination of liability or damages.⁠[9]

On October 9, the company held an event marking its 20th anniversary as an independent publicly traded company and announced a $100,000 donation to Feeding America. Using June 30, 2025 as the data date, the announcement said the business spans 20 countries and serves more than 3.5 million individual, institutional, and small business clients; these figures are not presented as its real-time scale in 2026.⁠[10]

On July 23, the company reported second-quarter results for the period ended June 30: net income under U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) was $1.113 billion, with diluted earnings per share of $11.98; adjusted operating diluted earnings per share was $11.07, which is a different measurement basis. Assets under management, administration, and advisement totaled approximately $1.8 trillion, up 14% year over year; this client asset metric is not the same as the company’s balance sheet assets.⁠[11]

On July 27, the company said it invests approximately $1 billion annually in technology, covering AI capabilities, platform upgrades, and infrastructure, and applies AI to advisor workflows, client service, and fraud prevention. This amount is the overall annual technology investment and cannot be described entirely as AI-specific spending; the announcement describes the company’s investment and areas of application.⁠[12]

The group operates financial planning, wealth management, global asset management, and insurance and annuity businesses. Ameriprise Financial is the corporate and advisor network brand, Columbia Threadneedle Investments carries the global asset management business, and RiverSource provides insurance and annuity products; banking services are provided by specific subsidiaries, including Ameriprise Bank, FSB.⁠[2][11]

The company is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. As of a September 2026 check, the leadership page on the official website still listed James M. Cracchiolo as chairman and chief executive officer and Walter S. Berman as executive vice president and chief financial officer. The official website is https://www.ameriprise.com (opens in a new window).⁠[3][13]

The YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is Google’s video-sharing and creator platform, founded in 2005 by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim and acquired by Google in 2006. Built around video uploading, viewing, and creator earnings, the platform has developed Shorts, YouTube Music, Premium, YouTube TV, and products for children, and is headquartered in San Bruno, California, United States.Open the full entry channel designated on the group’s official website is @Ameriprise, and its LinkedInLinkedInLinkedIn is a social networking platform for professionals. It was founded in 2002 by Reid Hoffman and others, launched in 2003, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2011; after Microsoft acquired it for approximately $26.2 billion in 2016, it became a wholly owned Microsoft subsidiary. Its revenue comes from membership subscriptions, advertising, and recruitment solutions.Open the full entry link leads to the Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC page; these are used for public communication of the group brand. The X account is @ameriprise; the company’s past announcements list this account directly, and it was still accessible as of a September 2026 check, but the posts seen on its main page were mostly older content, so it is not considered continuously active on that basis.⁠[14][15][16][17][18]