Ameriprise Financial Reports Fourth Quarter 2023 Results

Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE: AMP):

Current quarter GAAP results included unfavorable market impacts on the valuation of derivatives and market risk benefits, as well as $12 million of integration costs after-tax, primarily related to the acquisition of BMO EMEA.

In addition, adjusted operating after-tax results in the quarter included a $30 million accrual for an industry-wide regulatory matter relating to electronic communication recordkeeping requirements, $15 million of severance expense, and $14 million of mark-to-market impacts on share-based compensation expense resulting from the company’s share price appreciation in the quarter.

Advice & Wealth Management pretax adjusted operating earnings were strong at $698 million. Excluding the regulatory accrual, pretax adjusted operating earnings increased 9 percent to $728 million and pretax adjusted operating margin was 30.3 percent.

Adjusted operating net revenues increased 8 percent to $2.4 billion from growth in client assets in both wrap and brokerage accounts, as well as higher interest earnings from cash products. Significant equity market appreciation during the quarter, particularly in December, was not fully reflected in fourth quarter results, as wrap fees are billed on beginning of month balances.

Adjusted operating expenses increased 9 percent to $1.7 billion compared to a year ago. Distribution expenses increased 10 percent. Excluding the regulatory accrual, general and administrative expense was $401 million, down 1 percent.

The Wealth Management business continued to deliver profitable organic growth. Clients and advisors remained engaged and focused on positioning portfolios to meet financial planning goals through the market cycle. Clients remain heavily concentrated in yield-oriented products and have not begun putting cash back to work given the current environment.

• Total client net flows were $23 billion in the quarter and $53 billion for the full year.
• Cash balances increased 10 percent to $44.5 billion on a sequential basis. Total client cash including third-party money market funds and brokered CDs increased to $81.5 billion.
• Bank and certificate assets grew 28 percent year-over-year.
• Advisor headcount was 10,367, reflecting good advisor retention coupled with the addition of 166 experienced advisors in the quarter.
• Adjusted operating net revenue per advisor on a trailing 12-month basis was $916,000, up 11 percent from enhanced productivity, business growth and market appreciation.

Asset Management adjusted operating net revenues grew 8 percent to $845 million and pretax adjusted operating earnings increased 33 percent to $194 million. Financial results reflected equity market appreciation, disciplined expense management and performance fees, which more than offset the cumulative impact of net outflows. Net pretax adjusted operating margin was 32 percent, consistent with the company’s targeted range of 31 to 35 percent.

Adjusted operating expenses increased 2 percent. General and administrative expenses declined 4 percent excluding the impact of foreign exchange translation and performance fee compensation. The company has been implementing more comprehensive expense management initiatives in light of the environment and its objective to maintain the operating margin in the targeted range.

Total assets under management increased 9 percent to $637 billion as equity market appreciation and foreign exchange translation more than offset net outflows. The underlying fee rate remained stable at 46 basis points. Long term 3-, 5- and 10-year investment performance continues to be very strong.

In the quarter, net outflows were $5.2 billion. Flows included $1.2 billion of outflows related to legacy insurance partners.

• Retail net outflows were $0.9 billion reflecting gross sales consistent with the industry and year-over-year improvement in redemptions.
• Global institutional outflows were $3.1 billion, primarily from outflows that were expected from proactive portfolio manager actions related to expense management initiatives.

Retirement & Protection Solutions pretax adjusted operating earnings increased 2 percent to $202 million. These high-quality books of business continued to generate strong free cash flow and return on capital with a differentiated risk profile.

Retirement & Protection Solutions sales increased 19 percent, primarily from strong sales growth in structured variable annuities. Protection sales grew 6 percent to $72 million with the majority of sales in higher margin accumulation VUL products.

Total Corporate & Other Excluding Closed Blocks pretax adjusted operating loss was $117 million, which included $19 million of severance expense and $9 million of unfavorable mark-to-market impacts on share-based compensation expense. Excluding these items, the pretax adjusted operating loss was $89 million.

Revenues declined $11 million from the prior year, primarily reflecting adjustments and updates to the allocation of investment income across business segments that reflected increased market volatility and the interest rate environment, which had no impact on Ameriprise’s overall results.

Long Term Care pretax adjusted operating earnings improved to $10 million as a result of higher interest earnings.

Fixed Annuities pretax adjusted operating loss was consistent with expectations at $7 million.

Taxes

The operating effective tax rate was 22.3 percent in the quarter and 21.0 percent for the full year. Excluding the regulatory accrual, the operating effective tax rate was 21.7 percent in the quarter and 20.7 percent for the full year.

About Ameriprise Financial

At Ameriprise Financial, we have been helping people feel confident about their financial future for more than 125 years. With extensive investment advice, asset management and insurance capabilities and a nationwide network of over 10,000 financial advisors, we have the strength and expertise to serve the full range of individual and institutional investors' financial needs. For more information, or to find an Ameriprise financial advisor, visit ameriprise.com.

Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC offers financial planning services, investments, insurance and annuity products. Columbia Funds are distributed by Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc., member FINRA and managed by Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC. Threadneedle International Limited, Columbia Threadneedle Asset Managers Limited, Columbia Threadneedle (EM) Investments Limited, and Pyrford International Ltd, are SEC- and FCA-registered investment adviser affiliates of Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC based in the U.K. RiverSource insurance and annuity products are issued by RiverSource Life Insurance Company, and in New York only by RiverSource Life Insurance Co. of New York, Albany, New York. Only RiverSource Life Insurance Co. of New York is authorized to sell insurance and annuity products in the state of New York. These companies are part of Ameriprise Financial, Inc. CA License #0684538. RiverSource Distributors, Inc. (Distributor), Member FINRA.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

The company believes the presentation of adjusted operating measures, available capital for capital adequacy and other non-GAAP financial measures, and the corresponding ratios, best represents the underlying performance of our core operations and facilitates a more meaningful trend analysis without the distortion of various adjustment items. Management uses non-GAAP financial measures to evaluate our financial performance on a basis comparable to that used by some securities analysts and investors and to provide a valuable perspective for investors. These non-GAAP financial measures are taken into consideration, to varying degrees, for purposes of business planning and analysis and for certain compensation-related matters. Non-GAAP financial measures are intended to supplement investors’ understanding of our performance and should not be considered alternatives for financial measures presented in accordance with GAAP. These measures are discussed in more detail below and may not be comparable to other companies’ similarly titled non-GAAP financial measures. Non-GAAP financial measure reconciliations can be found on the subsequent pages.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements that reflect management’s plans, estimates and beliefs. Actual results could differ materially from those described in these forward-looking statements. Examples of such forward-looking statements include:

• statements of the company’s plans, intentions, positioning, expectations, objectives or goals, including those relating to asset flows, mass affluent and affluent client acquisition strategy, client retention and growth of our client base, financial advisor productivity, retention, recruiting and enrollments, the introduction, cessation, terms or pricing of new or existing products and services, acquisition integration, general and administrative costs, net pretax adjusted operating margin, consolidated tax rate, return of capital to shareholders, and excess capital position and financial flexibility to capture additional growth opportunities;
• other statements about future economic performance, the performance of equity markets and interest rate variations and the economic performance of the United States and of global markets; and
• statements of assumptions underlying such statements.

The words “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “optimistic,” “intend,” “plan,” “aim,” “will,” “may,” “should,” “could,” “would,” “likely,” “forecast,” “on track,” “project,” ”continue,” “able to remain”, “resume,” “deliver,” “develop,” “evolve,” “drive,” ”enable,” “flexibility,” “commitment,” “scenario,” “case,” “appear,” “expands” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements but are not the exclusive means of identifying such statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from such statements.

Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date on which they are made. Management cautions readers to carefully consider the risks described in the “Risk Factors” discussion under Part 1, Item 1A of and elsewhere in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022 available at ir.ameriprise.com. Management undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements.

The financial results discussed in this news release represent past performance only, which may not be used to predict or project future results. The financial results and values presented in this news release are based upon asset valuations that represent estimates as of the date of this news release and may be revised in the company’s Form 10-K for the period ended December 31, 2023.

Ameriprise Financial announces financial and other information to investors through the company’s investor relations website at ir.ameriprise.com, as well as SEC filings, press releases, public conference calls and webcasts. Investors and others interested in the company are encouraged to visit the investor relations website from time to time, as information is updated and new information is posted. The website also allows users to sign up for automatic notifications in the event new materials are posted. The information found on the website is not incorporated by reference into this release or in any other report or document the company furnishes or files with the SEC.

The Wall Street Journal Management Top 250 ranking for 2023 is based on a holistic measure of corporate effectiveness developed by the Drucker Institute. More than 700 U.S. companies were evaluated on 34 indicators across five dimensions of corporate performance: Customer Satisfaction, Employee Engagement and Development, Innovation, Social Responsibility and Financial Strength. All data collected was the most current available as of June 30, 2023. Ameriprise did not pay a fee to be evaluated for this rating. Ameriprise did pay a licensing fee to use the Management Top 250 logo. See https://www.drucker.institute/company-rankings/the-wall-street-journal-management-top-250/.