The paragraph is an introduction to a Q1 2025 earnings call hosted by Desiree, the operator, who hands over to Stephanie Rabe. Stephanie introduces Jim Cracchiolo, the Chairman and CEO, and Walter Berman, the CFO, who will provide remarks before taking questions. The call includes references to non-GAAP financial measures to offer insights into the company's operations, with reconciliations available on their website. Forward-looking statements are highlighted, emphasizing that they reflect management's current expectations and involve risks that could lead to different actual results. The financial results are discussed, with a focus on adjusted operating results for understanding core operations.

In the first quarter earnings call, Jim Cracchiolo from Ameriprise reported a strong start to the year, despite market volatility and economic uncertainty. The financial services company saw growth in assets under management and administration, reaching $1.5 trillion, with total revenues increasing by 5% and earnings up 8%. The wealth management division experienced significant client engagement, with assets rising by 7% to $1 trillion and inflows of $10.3 billion. The company credits its diversified business, strong client value proposition, and disciplined expense management for navigating the challenging economic environment. Ameriprise's return on equity, excluding AOCI, remains exceptional at 52%.

The paragraph highlights Ameriprise Financial's recent growth and innovations. Wrap assets increased by 10% to $573 billion, and transactional activity rose by 6%, especially in retail brokerage and financial planning. Client cash levels are high, presenting investment opportunities. The firm is enhancing its adviser support through an integrated ecosystem and investing in goal-based advisory solutions. A new UMA, Signature Wealth, will soon be launched to streamline investment management. Ameriprise continues to leverage technology for improved operations, winning a technology innovation award for its Practice Tech platform that enhances adviser efficiency.

Ameriprise Financial, Inc. experienced strong growth in adviser productivity and recruitment, with 82 new advisers joining due to its strong value proposition. Client satisfaction remains high, with a rating of 4.9 out of five, and the company received recognition for understanding clients and prioritizing their interests. Ameriprise promoted its advice value proposition through new advertising initiatives. The company's banking division has grown significantly, with assets exceeding $24 billion, and is set to expand services with new offerings like CDs, HELOCs, and checking accounts. Despite potential rate changes by the Fed, the bank continues to generate strong earnings, contributing to a wealth management margin of 29%.

The paragraph discusses the performance and strategies of a business in the retirement protection and asset management sectors. It highlights significant growth in annuities, especially traditional ones, and strong sales in life and disability products. The retirement protection solutions consistently deliver strong earnings, profitability, and stability. The business boasts high returns on equity and emphasizes the importance of stability during volatile periods. In asset management, the company saw good earnings despite a challenging quarter for flows, with assets under management and advisement at $657 billion. Notably, Columbia Threadneedle has many high-rated Morningstar funds and ranked well in Barron's fund family rankings. Despite experiencing higher outflows of $18.3 billion, primarily from institutional sources, the company remains focused on active management and adapting strategies to gain flows in the current environment.

The paragraph highlights Ameriprise Financial, Inc.'s strategic focus on enhancing key product capabilities and maintaining strong financial performance. Over the past two years, the company has improved its cost base and operational efficiencies, resulting in a high margin of 43% for the quarter and a 5% reduction in expenses. The firm's diversified business model generates solid free cash flow, allowing for continued investment and shareholder returns. With robust excess capital and effective risk management, the company is well-prepared to navigate volatile market conditions. Ameriprise also announced an 8% dividend increase and a new $4.5 billion share repurchase authorization, reflecting strong capital return and overall positive results for the year.

The team at Ameriprise Financial, Inc. is proud of their recent recognition by Fortune as one of America's most innovative companies in February 2025. Walter S. Berman reports that the company showed solid performance and balance sheet strength, allowing flexibility in a challenging market. The company saw a 13% increase in adjusted operating EPS, driven by strong performance in Wealth Management, strategic portfolio changes, and cost-saving initiatives. With a strong balance sheet, excess capital of $2.4 billion, and $2.5 billion in liquidity, Ameriprise is well-prepared to handle market volatility, boasting a diversified and well-rated investment portfolio, effective hedge programs, and consistent cash flow across segments.

The paragraph outlines strong financial performance and strategic actions within the company. It highlights robust EPS growth and an increase in assets under management, administration, and advisement to $1.5 trillion, despite some outflows in asset management. The company achieved a consolidated margin of 27% and a 5% revenue growth, while reducing G&A expenses by 5%. Free cash flow generation remained stable at 90%, allowing the return of $765 million to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases. Wealth management showed strong results, with revenue per adviser rising 12% and client assets increasing by 7% to $1 trillion. Wrap assets and client flows also saw significant growth, although cash balances in asset and wealth management declined. The bank's investment portfolio is being managed for stable earnings, featuring a 4.6% yield and 3.6-year duration.

The paragraph discusses various financial strategies and results of a bank, including a reduction in cash levels and floating rate securities, which decreased exposure to lower interest rates. The bank brought $500 million onto its balance sheet, investing it at a 5.5% yield with a four-year duration. This, along with early changes to cash sweeps, helped mitigate the effects of a Fed funds rate reduction since September, supporting future net investment income. The wealth management sector reported a 4% rise in pretax adjusted operating earnings to $792 million, driven by strong business fundamentals and market appreciation despite a single-digit decrease in cash contributions due to rate cuts. Operating net revenues rose 9% to $2.8 billion, spurred by heightened client assets and advisor-driven transactions. Despite a rise in adjusted operating expenses by 11%, reflecting increased distribution costs and minimal G&A expense growth, the business maintained solid margins at 29% and is well-positioned for potential market volatility, supported by strong adviser productivity and disciplined expense management.

The asset management segment experienced a strong quarter, with operating earnings increasing by 17% to $241 million due to equity market appreciation and expense management. However, total assets under management decreased to $657 billion due to net outflows of $18.3 billion, influenced by institutional client repositioning and an exit by Limestone. Revenues dropped 1% to $846 million, impacted by slower market growth and net outflows, though the fee rate remained stable. Adjusted operating expenses fell by 7% with a significant 12% improvement in G&A expenses, attributed to transformation initiatives and reduced performance fee compensation. The segment's margins reached 43%. Meanwhile, the retirement and protected solutions segment reported an 8% rise in pretax adjusted operating earnings to $215 million, driven by higher interest income and equities. This segment generated strong sales at $1.2 billion, particularly in structured variable annuities and variable universal life products. Additionally, the corporate segment's long-term care pretax adjusted operating earnings were $14 million.

The paragraph summarizes the strong financial performance and strategic capabilities of Ameriprise Financial, Inc. The company has maintained robust balance sheet fundamentals, with $2.4 billion in excess capital, $2.5 billion in available liquidity, and a diversified investment portfolio. It has consistently returned capital to shareholders and invested in future growth, driven by strong underlying business fundamentals. Over the past 12 months, revenues grew by 10%, adjusted EPS increased by 16%, and return on equity improved by 280 basis points, while returning $2.9 billion to shareholders. Over the past five years, it achieved an 8% annual revenue growth rate, a 15% increase in EPS, enhanced return on equity by 13 percentage points, and returned over $12 billion to shareholders. The differentiated performance reflects the complementary nature of the business mix and the focus on profitable growth. Following the presentation, the session opened for questions, starting with Suneet Kamath from Jefferies.

In the paragraph, Suneet Kamath asks Walter S. Berman about the outlook for net interest income (NII) in asset and wealth management (AWM) and the bank's cash levels and earnings. Walter expresses optimism due to strategic actions such as shifting from floating to fixed rates, adjusting the portfolio mix, and adding more liabilities to the balance sheet. Despite uncertainties with the Federal Reserve, he feels they can manage NII effectively. Suneet also asks Jim Cracchiolo about Signature Wealth's impact and potential benefits in asset management. Jim explains that Signature Wealth is a flexible, comprehensive unified managed account (UMA) platform allowing advisors to manage and rebalance both individual and institutional portfolios efficiently, adapting to various discretion levels.

The paragraph discusses the strong performance of AWM flows despite challenging market conditions. Jim Cracchiolo notes good client activity, with advisers engaging clients effectively to keep portfolios aligned with their goals. There was a significant addition of new assets, both in cash and investments, indicating healthy client flow and new client acquisition. While market volatility could affect this, the current flow rate is positive. The addition of new advisers was also strong in the first quarter.

In the paragraph, the discussion revolves around the company's strong technology capabilities and infrastructure, which have allowed them to maintain system availability while competitors faced issues. They highlight their adviser tech platform as a significant draw for advisers, contributing to their firm's strength. Although they no longer disclose adviser retention numbers, similar to their competitors, they acknowledge that factors like retirements and transfers affect these figures. In response to recent market volatility and its impact on adviser movement, they note that cash levels have remained relatively flat, and they feel confident about their current position.

The paragraph is part of a conversation during a financial call, where Alexander Blostein from Goldman Sachs asks about Ameriprise Financial, Inc.'s strong capital and liquidity position. He inquires whether the mention of being proactive and opportunistic in this environment hints at potential acquisitions in asset or wealth management. Jim Cracchiolo responds that the statement was general, emphasizing Ameriprise's resilience and flexibility to respond to market volatility and challenges, supported by a larger buyback program. Blostein also follows up on cash revenues and net interest income (NII) at the bank.

In the paragraph, Walter S. Berman discusses the financial outlook and strategy for the company through 2025. He assures that their new CD offering is seen as incremental and unlikely to cannibalize the existing search business. Berman emphasizes that the company's earnings are expected to remain stable despite external market conditions, like interest rates set by the Federal Reserve. He is confident in managing liabilities and describes the impact of fluctuating rates as manageable. Berman also states that their financial position is well-structured to handle market volatility. Alexander Blostein acknowledges this explanation, and the conversation moves on to another question by Wilma Burdis regarding the adviser recruiting environment.

In the paragraph, Jim Cracchiolo discusses the trends in adviser transition assistance packages, noting that recruitment was strong in the first quarter and continues to look promising in the second quarter. The company is effective at onboarding advisers quickly, with a focus on providing a supportive environment even as market conditions change. He notes that the competitiveness of packages has increased, but the company is confident in offering appealing packages to attract and grow advisers effectively. Wilma Burdis then inquires about share repurchases, to which Jim responds by explaining the company's flexibility to adjust the share repurchase strategy based on market conditions and opportunities. Thomas Gallagher from Evercore ISI is then introduced to continue with the next question.

In the paragraph, Jim Cracchiolo addresses concerns about headcount disclosure, asserting that retention is strong, primarily affected by retirements, with turnover mainly among newer hires. He clarifies that there's no pressure on headcount, which is up, and suggests their disclosure practice aligns with industry norms. Thomas Gallagher shifts the conversation to asset management, inquiring about future outflows. Cracchiolo mentions a pending outflow related to Limestone but indicates overall stability in institutional activities despite market changes.

In the article's paragraph, there is a discussion about the financial firm's performance in the first quarter, highlighting a shift to passive investments by an international firm for their reasons. Retail sales increased year over year, despite increased redemptions in the first quarter. In terms of investments, the firm's equities are performing better than the industry average, but they are looking to improve their fixed-side investments, which haven't seen significant inflow. Additionally, Craig Siegenthaler from Bank of America asks Jim Cracchiolo about organic growth and financial adviser headcount, to which Jim responds that they recruited 80 advisers in the first quarter and are maintaining a strong recruiting pipeline into the second quarter, although no further data is provided.

The paragraph discusses a financial firm's strong client retention and activity, highlighting the increased productivity of its adviser base as a key factor in its success. The firm reports strong underlying margins in its core business, with notable revenue and distribution fee growth. Craig Siegenthaler asks about adviser headcount retention forecasts for Q2 2025, given recent changes. Jim Cracchiolo indicates a continuation of the positive trends from Q1. John Barnidge inquires about retirement and protection solution earnings, which have consistently exceeded $200 million quarterly. Walter S. Berman assures that these earnings are stable and predictable, supported by a solid investment strategy despite a higher transactional impact.

In the paragraph, Jim Cracchiolo discusses the company's strategy in asset management, emphasizing the rollout of more active ETFs to enhance flexibility in trading and portfolio management. The company is also shifting towards a separately managed account (SMA) model and plans to launch an interval fund later in the year, spanning both public and private markets. A new hedge fund is gaining traction, reflecting a positive trend in gross sales, though redemptions have increased, mirroring industry-wide trends as investors become more conservative. John Barnidge and the operator facilitate the dialogue, moving on to a question from Ryan Krueger about G&A expenses, noting they were down 5% for the quarter, and seeking perspectives for the rest of the year.

In the conversation, Walter S. Berman and Ryan Krueger discuss General and Administrative (G&A) expenses, indicating that these expenses are expected to remain flat for the year. Ryan Krueger then inquires about client behavior during April, particularly concerning transactional activities and investments. Jim Cracchiolo responds, noting increased market volatility but no significant change in client behavior. Clients remain focused on long-term investments despite the market's ups and downs. The call ends with the operator announcing no further questions.

This summary was generated with AI and may contain some inaccuracies.