Ameriprise Financial (NYSE:AMP) executives told investors the company finished 2025 with what they described as new “all-time records across the board,” highlighting double-digit growth in revenue, earnings and earnings per share, strong client flows in Advice & Wealth Management, improved recruiting momentum, and a stepped-up pace of capital return.
Call opening and reporting focus
The company’s earnings call began after technical delays that pushed the start time back to 8:30 a.m. Eastern. In prepared remarks, management emphasized adjusted operating results as a way to reflect underlying performance. (Earlier in the transcript, the operator and investor relations contact referenced third-quarter materials and an annual “unlocking” process, but the main discussion and Q&A centered on the fourth-quarter 2025 results.)
Fourth-quarter results: records in revenue, earnings, and ROE
Cracchiolo and CFO Walter Berman also pointed to profitability metrics. Berman said the company posted a strong operating margin of 27% in the quarter. Cracchiolo said return on equity increased more than 100 basis points to 53.2%, which he described as the company’s highest ever.
Ameriprise ended 2025 with assets under management, administration and advisement of $1.7 trillion, up 11% year-over-year, according to management.
Advice & Wealth Management: client assets, flows, recruiting and banking initiatives
Management spent significant time on Advice & Wealth Management (AWM), describing accelerating flows and continued investment in advisor-facing technology and products. Cracchiolo said total client assets reached a year-end record of $1.2 trillion, up 13%, and total client inflows were $13.3 billion, up 18%.
Berman quantified flow rates and attributed improvement to several factors. He said the quarter’s $13.3 billion of total client flows represented a 4.7% annualized flow rate. He added that Retirement Account Program (RAP) assets increased 17% to $670 billion, with $12.1 billion of net inflows in the quarter—representing a 7.4% annualized flow rate. Berman said both client and RAP flow rates built each month of the quarter, driven by “continued strong core flows,” higher experienced advisor recruiting in the back half of the year, and “very strong retention levels.”
Cracchiolo highlighted the mid-year launch of the Signature Wealth Unified Managed Account platform, calling it one of the company’s most successful rollouts and saying early advisor feedback has been positive. He said advisors are seeing value in enhanced personalization, automated portfolio monitoring and rebalancing, reporting, and centralized trading. In Q&A, management described the rollout as still in the “early innings,” with uptake described as strong relative to prior wrap program launches, and said new capabilities (including managed SMAs) are being added over time.
The company also pointed to growth in banking products. Cracchiolo said bank product assets were $25.3 billion, and the firm is expanding lending, including pledge lending and “nice initial uptake” in mortgage loans. He said the company is seeing strong early interest after an initial launch of HELOCs and recently launched checking accounts, which he said rounds out the bank offering and should support greater savings and lending adoption in advisor practices.
On cash trends, Berman said cash sweep balances increased to $29.9 billion from $27.1 billion in the third quarter, describing the increase as consistent with normal fourth-quarter seasonality. Management added that first-quarter cash utilization can be affected by taxes and other seasonal factors, while also noting actions to reduce exposure to floating-rate securities and invest longer to help absorb impacts if rates fall.
Operationally, Berman said AWM adjusted operating net revenues rose 12% to $3.2 billion. He said fee-based and transaction revenues increased in the low double digits, reflecting higher client assets and activity. Adjusted operating expenses rose 11%, with distribution expenses up 12%. Berman reiterated distribution expenses were 65.8% of total management and financial advice fees and total distribution fees excluding off-balance sheet sweep cash, consistent with the company’s guided 66% level. Pre-tax adjusted operating earnings increased 13% to $926 million, and AWM margins were 29.3% for the quarter.
Asset management and retirement & protection: performance fees, transformation, and claims
In asset management, Cracchiolo said AUM and advisement reached $721 billion, up 6%, and highlighted investment performance metrics. He said the company had 103 four- and five-star Morningstar-rated funds at year-end, with nearly 70% of funds globally above the median over one year on an asset-weighted basis, and 80% above the median over three- and 10-year periods.
Berman said asset management operating earnings increased 17% to $293 million and revenues increased 12% to $1.0 billion. He attributed results to asset growth, higher performance fees, and the positive impact from transformation initiatives. Berman said performance fees were recognized due to “very strong performance in our hedge fund.” Asset management margins reached 40% in the quarter, which he said was above the target range.
In retirement and protection solutions, Berman said pre-tax adjusted operating earnings were $200 million, in line with the company’s target range. During Q&A, management addressed elevated mortality in the quarter, characterizing it as higher claims and within normal ranges, and said it was not viewed as an issue affecting longer-term expectations.
Capital return, balance sheet, and 2026 outlook themes
Ameriprise emphasized capital return and balance sheet strength. Berman said the company returned $1.1 billion of capital in the fourth quarter, a 37% increase year-over-year and 101% of operating earnings. For the full year, he said Ameriprise returned $3.4 billion, or 88% of operating earnings. Cracchiolo said the company increased capital return to more than 100% in the quarter and was “opportunistic” with buybacks due to what he called a discount in the share price.
Berman cited excess capital of approximately $2.1 billion and holding company available liquidity of $2.2 billion. He said the investment portfolio is diversified and high quality and that assets and liabilities are well matched.
Looking ahead, management said it plans to continue investing in technology, digital capabilities, AI and cloud infrastructure while also “transforming” and re-engineering the expense base to fund investments. In Q&A, Berman suggested expense growth expectations in 2026 would remain within historical ranges, describing a “small increase versus last year,” and said AWM G&A growth would likely be in a single-digit range, with investments offset by streamlining and transformation efforts. Cracchiolo also said the company feels good about recruiting pipelines and retention, while acknowledging advisor movement remains competitive.
About Ameriprise Financial (NYSE:AMP)
Ameriprise Financial, Inc is a diversified financial services company headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The firm provides a range of advice-based wealth management, asset management and insurance products to individual and institutional clients. Its business model centers on delivering financial planning and investment advice through a network of financial advisors alongside proprietary product offerings designed to meet retirement, protection and accumulation needs.
Core products and services include comprehensive financial planning and advisory services, managed investment portfolios, retirement planning solutions, annuities and life insurance products.
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