Ameriprise Reviews

Pros

the franchise structure is very family oriented.

Cons

no growth opportunities at all

Advice to Senior Management

growth is the base to keep talents in the company.

Pros

This job is easy if you know what you're doing and are willing to put in the time and pick up the phone. Compensation is competitive and rewarding if you can connect with clients and build relationships. If you are producing you get treated like a king.

Cons

Call center type expectations are annoying. If you are not producing, and not doing your job, you wont make much $, nor will you last long in this role.

Advice to Senior Management

Selective hiring.

Pros

There is a strong benefits package. The work environment is pleasant and the people are friendly. They provide you will strong research material. Competitive salary.

Cons

defined posiitons and hard to move out of designated path. There is a significant divide between employees and other managers. Defined role

Advice to Senior Management

Improve corporate culture. There should be more access between the higher ups within the firm and those working beneath management.

Pros

Interesting work. Committed to the community.

Cons

Promotions and salary increases may not be based on merit but the importance of the role.

Advice to Senior Management

Grading employees on a curve looks very much like the rank and yank structure of consulting firms. That may not be the image the firm wants.

Pros

Work life balance
Good pay
Employee development

Cons

Many reorgs and layoffs
Executive Team llives in NY

Pros

Good access to all investment products and no push to sell in-house brands

Cons

Big pressure to sell products to clients and sometimes these were not best for the client but were the "best" for the advisors

Advice to Senior Management

More integrity

Pros

Massive hiring. If you are looking for a job, it is a good place to find work. They are willing to train too, which is nice, and the licensing is at their cost.

Cons

Low pay, new program, very haphazard, and technological challenges are expected on a daily basis. If you ever get tech issues, dont bother to tell anyone - they already know, and no plans to fix (no $$$)

Advice to Senior Management

Have courtesy to treat your employees as your most valuable assets. The corporate culture sucks. Someone dies, everyone gets notified on email, and no pause for people to grieve. Business as usual. Fake emotions during meetings... sad. It is important that if a tragedy hits, everyone pauses at the same time. Top execs and management come to talk/grieve/discuss/cry with employees - at least for a couple of minutes. Dont wait for the next day to call a grief counselor, and in the meantime, everyone go on as if nothing has happened. Sad, very sad culture.

Pros

Company stability and vision; great executive level leadership; innovative thinking and growth company. Very solid company through ups and downs in economy.

Cons

Fast-paced growth company is becoming a drain on some employees. It's fun but people are working VERY hard and starting to get burned out.

Pros

Paid learning/teaching program and they pay for your licenses in other states which is helpful when you apply elsewhere.

Cons

Very limited in your ability to earn a A REAL living.I was amazed when one of their top salesmen came in and lectured our incoming class and, then, revealed that he was making a "whopping"(my input-sorry) 60,000 a year(wow!!!-TOP GUY!!! earns mid level 5 figure income...???)
Within this company you will be Monitored for EVERYTHING you do(don't get up to "relieve yourself" unless you have permission-well almost-ha,ha).
YOU are Consistently reminded of ANY MISTEPS which you have made-no matter how far in the past.....The managers whom I was exposed to-were uneducated and one was borderline,illiterate(well she was certainly not adept at grammar,etc).
 This company needs to help their managers Get rid of the personal b.s.(the manager whom I was under represented herself [maybe inadvertently] as a man hating divorcee') and get away from the "black and white" B.S...... Teach your "managers'(lack of a better word) how to communicate and how to instill confidence and success into their employees,as opposed to some fixed assessment of what THEY THINK their employees need.
This company should require(it NEEDS) a class on effective interpersonal communication for some of your managers.Good luck to you.

Advice to Senior Management

Get managers who have some level of competence and who are open to listening as opposed to ignoring employees under the guise of "knowing better".Might help if your managers were able to communicate, as opposed to spewing corporate ideals without any input and/or LISTENING.

Pros

Good benefits. At the time that I was there the compensation package for advisors was one of the highest in the industry. There was discussion of some of that changing.

Cons

I think that they may have lost some of their culture/heritage as they have pursued practice acquisitions and recruitment of established advisors so heavily.

Advice to Senior Management

none