& p 500 component traded as nyse amp industry financial services founded 1894 founder john tappan and j.r ridgway headquarters ameriprise financial center minneapolis minnesota u.s. key people james m. cracchiolo chairman & ceo porter fraker sergeant at arms products investments revenue us 12 170 million fy 2015 1 net income us 1 562 million fy 2015 1 total assets us 777 million fy 2015 2 total equity us 9.712 million fy 2012 3 number of employees 12 235 2013 website www.ameriprise.com ameriprise financial inc. is an american diversified financial services company . 4 ameriprise financial engages in business through its subsidiaries providing financial planning products and services including wealth management asset management insurance annuities and estate planning . ameriprise financial inc. the holding company is incorporated in delaware . the company s headquarters are in minneapolis minnesota . james cracchiolo is the chairman and chief executive officer . the company s primary subsidiaries include ameriprise financial services inc. columbia management investment advisers llc and riversource life insurance company . threadneedle asset management is ameriprise financial s international asset manager and a provider of investments to institutional and retail clients . contents 1 history 1.1 timeline 1.2 spin off from american express 2 business segments 2.1 wealth management and retirement 2.2 asset management 2.3 principal brands 2.3.1 ameriprise financial services 2.3.2 columbia management 2.3.3 riversource 2.4 sale of securities america 3 international subsidiaries 3.1 threadneedle asset management holdings 3.2 ameriprise india 4 acquisitions and restructuring 5 locations 6 ameriprise advisors 7 awards & accolades 8 criticism & controversy 9 see also 10 notes 11 external links history edit timeline edit ameriprise financial began life as investors syndicate in 1894 . here are a few of the company s key milestones 1894 john tappan founds investors syndicate in minneapolis minnesota . 1925 west coast businessman j. r. ridgway sr. merges his investment firm with investors syndicate takes over as president . 1937 upon the death of then 50 year old j. r. ridgway sr. from leukemia 23 year old j. r. ridgway jr. is appointed president . 1940 investors syndicate introduces one of the first mutual funds the investors mutual fund giving clients new investing options and two advantages diversification and professional management . by the 1960s investors mutual fund is the largest balanced mutual fund in the world . 1949 investors syndicate changes its name to investors diversified services inc. ids . 1958 ids founds the investors syndicate life insurance and annuity company now known as riversource life insurance company . 1974 the ids centre now ids center is opened in downtown minneapolis as the company s headquarters . 1979 ridgway family sells off last of its ownership interest . ids became a wholly owned subsidiary of alleghany corporation pursuant to a merger . 1984 american express completes acquisition of ids financial services from alleghany corporation ; company renamed as american express financial advisors aefa . 1986 ids acquires wisconsin employers casualty company of green bay and renames it ids property casualty insurance company . 1994 ids reaches 100 billion in assets and conducts business under the american express brand . 2003 american express financial corporation acquires london based threadneedle asset management holdings . 2005 american express financial corporation spins off and becomes an independent company named ameriprise financial inc. ; begins trading on the nyse under the ticker symbol amp . 2006 ameriprise financial launches ameriprise bank fsb . 2008 ameriprise financial acquires h & r block financial advisors for 315 million and the asset management firm j. & w. seligman & co. for 400 million ; declines u.s. government financial assistance offered to many major american financial firms during the financial crisis occurring at the time . 2009 ameriprise financial acquires long term asset management business of columbia management for 1.2 billion from bank of america . 2011 ameriprise financial takes its proprietary dream plan track approach to financial planning to consumers in india . 5 spin off from american express edit ameriprise financial is the successor to american express financial advisors aefa a former subsidiary of the american express company . in 2005 american express spun off aefa as an independent company . aefa s new name ameriprise financial inc. came into effect august 1 2005 and the spin off transaction closed on september 30 2005 . business segments edit ameriprise financial is one of the largest financial planning companies in the united states 6 and is among the 25 largest asset managers in the world . 7 it is ranked 246 in the 2011 fortune 500 . 8 ameriprise financial is in wealth management and retirement planning in the u.s. and also works as an asset manager with global business . wealth management and retirement edit ameriprise financial specializes in retirement related financial planning for relatively well off clients . as of december 31 2010 the company has about three million clients and 672.7 billion in owned managed and administered assets worldwide . 7 the company offers variable annuities and life and disability insurance . it also operates ameriprise bank fsb which offers a variety of consumer banking and lending products and personal trust and related services . ameriprise financial received publicity for moving more quickly than some other full service wealth management firms to develop social media for its advisors and investors e.g. via linkedin . 9 asset management edit ameriprise financial operates two complementary asset management platforms columbia management in the u.s. and threadneedle internationally . the company reported as having 436 billion in assets under management as of december 31 2011 placing it eighth in long term mutual fund assets in the u.s. fourth in retail funds in the u.k. and 27th in global assets under management . 10 principal brands edit the company uses three principal brands for its businesses in the united states ameriprise financial columbia management and riversource . the threadneedle brand is used for its international asset manager s products . ameriprise financial services edit ameriprise financial services inc. a financial planning and retail distribution subsidiary which operates under the ameriprise financial brand name is a registered broker dealer and registered investment adviser . it has an integrated model of comprehensive and personalized financial planning diversified product manufacturing and affiliated and unaffiliated distribution through its network of financial advisors and registered representatives . 7 the retail products and services that use the ameriprise financial brand include those that the company provides through its affiliated advisors e.g. financial planning investment advisory accounts retail brokerage services and banking products and products and services that it markets directly to consumers e.g. personal auto and home insurance . 10 columbia management edit this is the primary brand for the company s u.s. asset management products and services including retail and institutional asset management products . following the completion of the acquisition of the long term asset management business of the columbia management group from bank of america in april 2010 the company combined riversource investments its legacy u.s. asset management business with columbia management under the columbia management brand . 10 riversource edit this is the brand for the company s annuities products and for the protection products issued by the riversource life companies including life and disability income insurance products . 10 sale of securities america edit securities america financial corporation s roots go back to financial dynamics an insurance marketing organization founded in 1984 by steve wild that had between 10 000 and 12 000 independent insurance agents affiliated with the firm . financial dynamics created securities america an independent securities broker dealer to use its insurance sales force to offer investments . securities america advisors inc. an sec registered investment advisory firm was founded in 1993 to offer investment management financial advice and financial planning through a national network of independent financial advisors . in 1998 securities america was acquired by american express . in october 2005 after ameriprise financial s spin off from american express securities america became a wholly owned subsidiary of ameriprise financial but continued to operate independently as a nebraska based broker dealer and serving independent financial advisers across the country . securities america acquired brecek & young advisors a california based broker dealer and its subsidiary iron point capital management from security benefit corp. of topeka kansas . securities america had received the inaugural practitioner thought leadership award from the retirement income industry association in march 2011 11 and was ranked as the seventh largest independent broker dealer based on total revenues in the u.s. according to a june 2011 financial planning magazine survey . 12 on april 25 2011 ameriprise announced that it was trying to find an appropriate buyer for securities america financial corporation and its subsidiaries . ameriprise said that this move will independent allow securities america advisors and registered representatives who conduct business without utilizing the ameriprise brand to focus on growth opportunities in the independent channel . 13 in november 2011 ameriprise completed the sale of securities america to ladenburg thalmann financial services for 150 million in cash and potential future payments . ameriprise claimed that selling this independent broker dealer allows ameriprise to focus its efforts on servicing and developing its branded advisor network . 10 international subsidiaries edit threadneedle asset management holdings edit threadneedle asset management holdings sarl is a luxembourg based holding company for the threadneedle group of companies and a wholly owned independent subsidiary of ameriprise financial which provides investment management products and services to clients in the united kingdom europe the middle east and the asia pacific region . though acquired by ameriprise financial in 2003 threadneedle operates as an independent international asset manager under its own brand name management organization and operating compliance and technology infrastructure . threadneedle primarily provides international investment products and services and ameriprise financial through an arrangement with threadneedle offers certain international and u.s. equity strategies to its u.s. clients . in 2008 threadneedle acquired invesco perpetual s full service defined contribution pension business with total assets of 470m 14 followed by acquisition of standard chartered bank s world express funds investment funds business in 2009 the latter providing threadneedle with an established luxembourg based sicav platform with over us 2.38 billion worth assets under management as at april 30 2009 . 15 in august 2011 it was announced that threadneedle would acquire the investment assets of lv amounting to some 8 billion . 16 at december 31 2010 threadneedle had 105.6 billion in managed assets worldwide and was expanding distribution of its institutional products in europe asia u.s. middle east and australia . ameriprise india edit in early 2012 ameriprise announced that it had begun offering retail financial planning and distribution services in india through its subsidiary ameriprise india private limited . ameriprise has also established an insurance brokerage entity in india that is licensed to deal in insurance products by india s insurance regulatory and development authority irda . ameriprise india has established offices in delhi gurgaon greater noida mumbai & pune with a plan to expand to other indian metro areas in the future . as with its u.s. financial planning business ameriprise india 17 provides holistic financial planning services through its trained advisor force . fees are received for delivering financial plans ; however ameriprise india does not currently sell affiliated investment or insurance products instead refers clients who elect to implement their financial plan to third party product manufacturers to purchase recommended investment and or insurance products . as of may 2014 ameriprise has shut down the nascent financial planning division in india citing poor prospects for fee based advisory services . 18 acquisitions and restructuring edit in september 2009 ameriprise financial acquired columbia management the long term asset management business of bank of america for u.s. 1 billion . 19 in january 2013 ameriprise financial completed the conversion of its federal savings bank subsidiary ameriprise bank fsb to a limited powers national trust bank which conversion included changing the name of this subsidiary to