InvestmentNews reported on Thursday, October 29, that Ameriprise Chairman and CEO Jim Cracchiolo rejected the existence of a broad retention program for advisors, even as other large firms have introduced retention bonuses. The remarks came on the broker-dealer's third-quarter 2026 earnings call. Citywire RIA and AdvisorHub also covered the call and reported the denial in substantially the same terms.
On the call, Cracchiolo told analysts that the firm does not have a retention program. He said much of the recent reporting drew on anonymous sources and recruiters with their own agendas. He described Ameriprise as working with advisors individually on matters such as succession, practice acquisitions, liquidity and complex teams, rather than through a standard program for all advisors.
AdvisorHub reported a tension within the call's remarks. CFO Walter Berman said the firm is not making changes to its approach, but in prepared remarks he acknowledged that Ameriprise had selectively adjusted recruiting offers to reflect the competitive environment. According to a summary of the call cited by Biggo News, Berman also said retention of tenured advisors with more than ten years at the firm is in the high-90% range.
The denial follows reporting from September. RIABiz reported that Ameriprise had started making retention payments and waiving fees for its top teams after four billion-dollar teams left for Schwab earlier this year. That account said the deals went to more than a dozen teams over a 30- to 60-day period and that signing a non-disclosure agreement was a condition of receiving the money and fee waivers. RIABiz reported that Ameriprise shares fell 3.5% after the news.
AdvisorHub separately reported that an anonymous recruiter described the retention awards as forgivable loans that can reach around 100% of a broker's trailing-12-month production, and said the awards were offered to at least 100 teams. AdvisorHub also reported that a Bank of America analyst note cut its price target on the stock to $445 from $570. A Bank of America analyst note counted at least five advisor teams that departed between May and September, with combined client assets of $12.75 billion. The same note put the 2025 increase in Ameriprise's transition-assistance and recruiting loans at 25% year over year. Those figures are assets under management, and the recruiter's claims have not been confirmed by the firm.
Ameriprise also lost teams to Rise Private Wealth Management with $4.3 billion and to Fathom Advisors with $1.3 billion in September, both of which left to start their own RIAs, according to AdvisorHub. In October, the firm added three RBC Wealth Management teams with $1.2 billion in combined assets, AdvisorHub reported. InvestmentNews had separately reported on October 26 that UBS and Ameriprise were introducing retention bonuses as part of 2027 advisor pay.
Ameriprise Financial, Inc. is publicly traded on the NYSE under the symbol AMP and is headquartered in Minneapolis. Its third-quarter release, furnished to the SEC on Form 8-K, reported adjusted operating earnings per share of $11.26, up 14% from a year earlier. Excluding unlocking, the figure was $12.07, up 22%. The company also announced a two-year, $5.5 billion share repurchase authorization running through September 30, 2028. That is a buyback capacity figure, not an asset or revenue measure. Ameriprise reported record assets under management, administration and advisement of $1.8 trillion in its second-quarter 2026 release.
The dispute over retention matters because advisor recruiting has become a key competitive battleground for wealth firms. Retention bonuses, forgivable loans and fee waivers can be structured with conditions that affect how long an advisor or team must stay, and they can also shape how a team weighs a move. The sources do not describe the terms of any Ameriprise arrangement beyond the claims cited above, and the firm's public position is that it does not operate a broad program. The reporting so far leaves that question unresolved, and the figures from the earnings call and analyst note will be the main points to watch in coming quarters.