Ameriprise's wealth management unit tuned in a strong performance in the first quarter, with pretax profits climbing 21% year-over-year and AUM growing 11%, the firm reported Monday.
CEO Jim Cracchiolo credited the firm's overall strong performance to the wealth management business — "the primary growth engine of the company," he said in a statement.
At the same time, however, the brokerage force has been steadily shrinking. Adviser headcount slid to 9,668 from 9,675 in the fourth quarter. It was also down from 9,766 in the year-ago quarter.
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The firm reported record revenues, net income and client assets for the first quarter.
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Some brokers who recently left the wirehouse cited differences over its policy to cease offering commission-based retirement accounts.
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First-quarter revenue jumped 9% year-over-year even as the number of advisers fell by 10%.
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Advisers’ productivity rose to $529,000 from $510,000 in the year-ago period.
Though the firm may have fewer brokers, it reported having record total client assets of $498 billion, up from $451 billion a year ago. Net flows into wrap accounts surged to $3.9 billion from $3.3 billion in the prior quarter and $1 billion a year ago.
The growth in AUM mirrors a
Ameriprise's wealth management's performance was helped by strong revenue growth driven by higher financial advisory fees.
The wealth management unit had pretax profits of $248 million. Revenue for the unit climbed 8% to $1.295 billion. Expenses ticked up at a slower pace, increasing 5% to $1.047 billion.
