Ameriprise Employee Reviews about "pay"

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

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.

Pros

Good Enviroment Higher Management is Reachable Good Job Security Pay is decent Transparency is there flexible hours

Cons

Working hours are more and there is no overtime pay

Pros

A Stable pay check Concerned about the community A good mixture of co workers in Corporate. pretty dicey if you are employred in the field.

Cons

Quarterly reviews for minimal raises. Each position has a pay cap and if you reach that cap you will no longer recieve a raise. So you're either forced to find a new position or stuck in that same position to never recieve another raise. Lack of compassion for employees There are still opportuities for improvement regarding racial issues within the field offices.

Pros

The culture at Ameriprise is great. Excellent people and leaders. Very flexible and accommodating. Pays very well and exceptional benefit package.

Cons

Promotion speed can be challenging.

Pros

Big company with a lot of resources, options to move into many lines of work internally

Cons

Below average pay and no interest in improving pay to match market conditions or affect a growing turnover rate

Pros

1) Opportunity for career advancement if you are willing to work for it and prove yourself. 2) Good base pay and benefits 3) Strong senior leadership team

Cons

1) Bonus and other special pay is low relative to other companies

Pros

5% match on 401k and get a cash balance pension after year obe and vests after 3 years. Match is higher at competitive firms but not terrible. Ok health insurance options

Cons

Competition pays more but east opportunity to grow within company

Pros

I worked at a Big Four firm for some time and moved to a non-profit. I knew that I needed a work life balance and wouldn't go back to a Big Four environment for any level of pay. I moved from the non-profit to Ameriprise and have been really happy with what I view as the best of both worlds. I've had great opportunities to advance my career at Ameriprise while still having a good balance (I average 40-43 hours a week). I certainly feel like my work is challenging and that I'm continuing to grow and hone my skills. I was also surprised at the availably of senior leaders and easily set up a mentor relationship with a SVP out site my department.

Cons

I have several colleagues that work at the big banks in this metro area who earn more but average many more hours, often 55 hours per week. I would not trade places.

Pros

Working as an AFA means working for a franchisee so the experience will be different depending on the advisor you work for. In my experience, the company has done an amazing job from the time it became an independent firm spun-off American Express. The firm has been expanding the product options, improving technology and started to expand into higher net worth clients. Since you work with a franchisee the atmosphere tends to be less company-like and more relaxed. Teams tend to be smaller and you will get exposure to all facets of the business from operations, to financial planning and finally to investments. Salaries are competitive but that depends on the franchisee since they are the ones that select the pay scales.

Cons

You are working for a small franchisee group so you don't have access to "HR", or a benefits department, or a structure that would make it easier to understand who is in charge of what. You will wear many hats but as long as you like it it's a great place to work at.