Ameriprise Employee Reviews about "manager"

Pros

Obtaining a contract, whether W2 or Corp-Corp working with Ameriprise Financial is very easy for experienced Project Managers based in Minneapolis, MN. The work environment is comfortable, usually slow-paced and low stress. The management (Business & IT) is consistently competent and contain solid levels of longevity with the organization; frequently dating back to the American Express Financial Advisors (AEFA) organization.

Cons

There are complicated political alliances that occasionally inhibit efficient and high quality project or program level execution of projects. The internal demands for the finite qualified IT resources creates significant resource contention that are large obstacles to execution of high level initiatives. The mid-level Director and Sr. Manager level resources are relatively inexperienced and typically very insecure in their roles. The VP and SVP/C level executives are highly talented and strong caliber leaders (overall). Contract pay rates are near the low end for seasoned professionals, thus providing a large number of under qualified BA and Program/Project Manager contractors.

Pros

lots of good benefits and opportunities for advancement in a variety of fields. There's a lot of online training available . If you're identified as someone your manager wants to develop, the sky's the limit. There are no qualms about giving selected people more opportunities to advance.

Cons

political, lots of competition and layoffs are a current threat. There's much more pressure lately and it shows in the tension of managers and the atmosphere is much more strained. Much more focus on the numbers and bottom line than there is on the harder to measure qualities like client satisfaction. Advisors seem unhappier - the veterans are paying more and getting less and the newly recruited advisors are finding things aren't exactly as they were told.

Pros

They pay for your initial licenses. Sadly that is it. They used to provide significant ongoing training but that has fallen by the wayside as a newer "team" model has been adopted.

Cons

I want to be clear that this is not a review of a branch office but rather a corporate department The Ameriprise Advisor Center or AAC as they refer to it. Pay: When i started pay was a combination of base salary and comission. By the time i left the pay structure had been altered to one of bonus and base. Your bonus is determined by 2 factors your team hitting its target revenue and how well you get along with your manager. Even meeting your number means you will see a comission payout of about 10 to 11%. The number is adjusted quarterly and annually. If you have experience in this industry you know how low of a grid payout that is. A typical producet is going to be expected to generate 150k to 200k GDC per year. They will alter pay plans annually, I watched people have issues purchasing homes due to the constant pay plan changes. Clients: At one point earlier in my tennure with the organization their were many clients worth working with. The organization solely works with orphaned clients that come from Ameriprises field advisors. These clients were typically cast off from the first advisor becuase the advisor could not generate any more revenue off of them. Suffice to say many of these clients are more than a little disgrunteled with the firm. You will be expected to sell each of them a financial plan when you initially meet with them. Most of the clients do not have the assets to warrant purchasing a financial plan. Thses clients have also been called to death at this point, sometimes several times in the same week. Management: The management of the AAC is broken down into 3 levels, the team manager, the directors (managers bosses) and the VP running the department. Management definitely has a bro culture mentality about it. Reminded me of highschool and college locker rooms. People and culture: Sadly the quality of people to work with diminished greatly as i worked there. Many would be amazed to know that people like this were allowed to handle other peoples money and advise them on what to do with it. Many a high five did i witness after someone dropped a 'rava bomb' ie convinced a client to purchase an annuity. This type of mentality is rampant in the department. Client suitablilty really is a secondary concern to meeting the teams revenue number. As the training has fallen off dramatically new 'specialists' have been brought in to sell for the sales people as the newer sales people have little to no experience selling the financial products they are recommending. 0 to 6 months experience is not uncommon. It is not uncommon for an advisor to be drunk or high during the work day, probably to deal with the misery and stress of being there. Roles and expectations: Be prepared to work 55 to 70 hours per week. If you are newer your job will consist of setting appoints for the sales roles or advisors or doing their paperwork. If you are in a selling roles you will hold 8 to 12 client meeting per day with mostly unqualified clients who have had this exact same meeting with one of the previous advisors several times. You will also be expected to sell a financial plan to eveyone you meet with. Anyone with tenure in this industry knows this is unethical. The place essentially functions as a boiler room and i feel sorry for clients who through no fault of their own have their money there. In summary this place is toxic. Avoid it at all costs. Waiting tables is a better job than this

Pros

Terrific culture, work/life balance. The people that work here are top notch individuals whether it's direct managers or business partners.

Cons

Pay is the only issue as it is significantly less than what is available in the market. This is especially true if you start your career with the company as annual merit increases are marginal.

Pros

clean, secure, corporate conscious, community steward, company stock growth

Cons

I resigned my position with Ameriprise due to poor leadership in my immediate supervisor. This is not to say that there are other managers and corporate leaders who are very good within the organization; mine was poor.

Pros

Nice environment not much more to say. Some nice people to work with and some good managers. Ceo is good guy.

Cons

Managers salaries are tied to sales force. If production drops they aren't happy. Many leads are old and clients with many complaints about previous planners. Advisor center is a mill and you don't get all that's available to clients for almost a year. Managers listen in on calls and can interject comments into your ear while speaking to clients. Clients can't hear manager but it can get distracting esp when the manager does not know anything about the client and makes recommendations that planner knows is not what the client wants or needs. If you don't make it to the client problems will arise and if you do you may lose the client.

Pros

Company invests a lot of resources into their interns and managers care about their interns development

Cons

Pretty slow work and company

Pros

Nice looking facilities, nice looking cafeteria..

Cons

Everything else. It's a 'good old boy' network based on longevity. Working conditions aren't as nice as it looks. Contractors are treated like second rate people by managers with egos that need two people to carry them.

Pros

Good benefits CO-WORKERS are great Facilities are nice GYM available IN-HOUSE cafateria

Cons

Inconsistent management structure (VP WITH 2 DIRECT REPORTS????) No appreciation for your contributions ... only what can you do for me next?? Ancient technology HR protects bad and abusive managers Easy to get 'pigeonholed'

Pros

The company is forward-thinking and very respected.

Cons

The manager had multiple HR reports against them and no disciplinary action was ever taken. They were verbally abusive and caused the entire department an immense amount of anxiety.