Ameriprise Reviews

Pros

There are some very passionate people at Ameriprise that want to do the right thing.

Cons

Skill levels of management and trainers were extremely dissapointing.

Advice to Senior Management

Hire older more competent people.

Pros

decent training . support truly depends on your office

Cons

growth is up to you, no real support from upper management

Pros

The atmosphere was great to work in. Everyone was very friendly and I enjoyed going to work everyday. Met many great people I will stay in contact with.

Cons

The online tools were outdated and often were down. The company is behind your decisions and want you to do the best.

Advice to Senior Management

Make the online tools more user friendly. They online system often went down and work can not be done. So much paperwork compared to other companies.

Pros

Tuition Assistance Program was a great benefit. Free Series 7 training. I met some very helpful and encouraging senior leaders.

Cons

There was a general condescending tone toward band 25 (entry level) staff. Obfuscating process for advancement. Poor internal promotion opportunities.

Advice to Senior Management

I respect the senior management and appreciated their regular all-company meetings. Openness should be adopted by all levels of management.

Pros

Nice location and LEED certified buildings
Competitive benefits
Sound approach to financial planning
Committment to giving back to communities
Diversity is valued

Cons

Hierarchical
Employees aren't valued
Push to drive results comes at an expense -- both in work quality and employee engagement

Advice to Senior Management

Focus on preventing operational issues rather than cleaning them up after they happen. Develop your leaders and give them time and resources to develop their teams. Teach people how to respect each other for what they bring to the table. Encourage your leaders to be competitive without being ruthless.

Pros

Good salary compared to other companies

Cons

Very assertive employees - not for the faint of heart, very, very fast-paced

Pros

Good experience from the ground level. Get to see the basic functions of advisors and how they interact with clients. Mostly doing back office stuff: data entry, research, copying, filing...

Cons

Hard to make the transition from intern or low level assistant to a more involved roll. Experience will vary greatly depending on who you work for.

Advice to Senior Management

Offer a more clear career track to follow. Good overall experience for people who don't have prior financial services experience.

Pros

The health benefits are remarkable. The employee pension and 401k program is pretty good as well. The location is convenient compared to other downtown Minneapolis locations.

Cons

Terrible Work/Life Balance
Need to work endless overtime to stay ahead of performance standards
low compensation/bonus incentive
the provided sales leads have been called and called so much they don't answer the phone anymore
Advisor turnover is so high every client lead provided has had 2 or 3 Advisors in the last 2 years.
The technology is not supported and crashes daily (literally)
Good quality financial advice is not valued
Overall its a perfect Churning machine new Advisors yearly calling with little background info on client and attempting to churn a sale from existing assets already invested

Advice to Senior Management

For the Ameriprise Advisor Center management needs to lower performance standards down to a point that they can be achieved in a regular work day without requiring 55 hour work weeks that extend into the evening hours 9 or 10 pm if you are licensed in the west coast states. Professional financial advisors are not going to be away from their families and loved ones through every evening and remain with the company long term.

Pros

Strong company. Flexible hours (you make your own). Great place for personal and professional development in the financial industry. Can be challenging but rewards can be lucrative.

Cons

The biggest downside to working with Ameriprise is the payout on GDC. Each year the bonus structure differs each year so it can be difficult to deal with.

Advice to Senior Management

Management should be looking to advisors for more field feedback. They should treat advisors as assets and not as a tool to generate revenue for the company.

Pros

Familiarity with investments and the investment process.

Cons

Not much opportunity to advance

Advice to Senior Management

Treat your employees like they have more than half a brain. Please.