Personally I love it.  Their customers are totally ticked off and running thru our doors at RJ. 

Once a stinky company, always a stinky company.

maybeeeee,

how are the fees at RJ?  do you pay for compliance, or the franchise tag?

I hate the name Ameriprise.  I want to call them for my next rental car.  Who came up with such a stupid name?

[quote=Help]I hate the name Ameriprise.  I want to call them for my next rental car.  Who came up with such a stupid name?[/quote]

My guess is American Airlines and Enterprise car rental.

New add slogan:  "Retirement?  We get you there."

(television flashes scenes of retirees getting of an American Airlines flight at their retirement destination...their 'Ameriprise' rep picks them up in an Enterprise rental car...flashes a smile...and says...)

"Not only do we get you there.  We pick you up too."

FADE TO BLACK 

What a great concept!  The reps can supplement their incomes with tips, too!

[quote=Starka]What a great concept!  The reps can supplement their incomes with tips, too![/quote]

I thought the complimentary VUL that comes with every financial plan was the broker's tip.

Ameriprise is the Booby prize

I’ve heard that they are going to be enforcing the scorecard even more to raise/lower payouts even more.  Anyone know about this?

The scorecard increased my income by $15k.  Clients couldn't care less about the name so far(a company named after an edward, merrill or Raymond sounds any better,  who would name their kids these?)  I haven't asked for tips but maybe it could pay for my yacht, or maybe to increase the funding of my vul ( I make over the Roth limit and I maxed out my defined benefit plan and profit sharing plan) Since we are 1099'd we don't have access to a 401k, unless we want to set one up.  I have axed my smaller accounts though.  I gave them the number to Raymond James. .

[quote=Sr. Advisor]

The scorecard increased my income by $15k.  Clients couldn't care less about the name so far(a company named after an edward, merrill or Raymond sounds any better,  who would name their kids these?)  I haven't asked for tips but maybe it could pay for my yacht, or maybe to increase the funding of my vul ( I make over the Roth limit and I maxed out my defined benefit plan and profit sharing plan) Since we are 1099'd we don't have access to a 401k, unless we want to set one up.  I have axed my smaller accounts though.  I gave them the number to Raymond James. .

LOL...."Yacht" is the word to use when you're describing your broken down old boat to someone who's never likely to see it.  (Much like many of the other words used in the above referenced post.)

But how do Ameriprise FAs feel when they know that they have fewer expenses and fees (i.e. no compliance costs, franchise fees, etc.) to pay along with a stronger platform without proprietary, not to mention no scorecard, corporate "junk" and better technology with another firm?  Just my insight from what I've heard across the board.

BrokerRecruit,

You wanted to know how a vet is doing at AMP so I give it to you.  We all realize that the company isn't perfect but what firm is.  I meet with 6 decent producers once a month for lunch to review business and best practices.  At this time,  for successful reps at AMP, there is little motivation to change.  We are in a wait and see mode but still doing business as usual.  Clients do not seem affected.  The advisors I meet with are all at the 88 to 91% payout. We have expenses but the higher payout makes up for most of it.  We also are receiving in essence another month's average production from 2004 in the form of stock award.  I know it isn't comparable to what we could get in the form of a forgivable loan from a whirehouse, but not bad considering we are at the payout we are at and that we are 1099'd. Scorecard is good for higher producers as we were at 85%.  We don't get paid more for prop funds so most of our mix is spread out, including a good share of ETF's in our fee based accounts. Prop company wide is 17% on the load side and 7-9% on the fee based platform. The change to the franchise system has been helpful to those of us who have bought practices and on the other side, for those who retire.  I have no problem with the scorecard, technology (my staff deals with the computers, I just meet with clients).  I do pay the bills and while I would like lower expenses we all know there are trade offs.   Also isn't it "if your going to be stupid, you gotta be tough??  I don't mind getting stupid once in a while but have never aspired to be dumb.  I am wasting time posting this when I could be productive.........I guess that would be considered dumb.  I am out to go get stupid!

AMP,

Thanks for the insight and I'm glad you didn't seem to take it as an insult because that's not how I intended it!  That said, I completely understand that no firm is perfect.  And, to be perfectly up-front, I'm a recruiter and I work with a number of strong firms (one of the "Big Three" wires and two of the top three indy BDs).  There is also a smaller indy that we work with that has drawn strong interest from Ameriprise FAs due to a number of issues that I wouldn't consider "generalized", but they are growing consistent with those that are at the point where they are exploring other opportunities.

Again, thanks for the feedback.  Best of luck.

Not only will we get you to retirement, we'll pick you up!

Would you like to supersize that VUL for an extra $100 per month?

[quote=Sr. Advisor]

The scorecard increased my income by $15k.  Clients couldn't care less about the name so far(a company named after an edward, merrill or Raymond sounds any better,  who would name their kids these?)  I haven't asked for tips but maybe it could pay for my yacht, or maybe to increase the funding of my vul ( I make over the Roth limit and I maxed out my defined benefit plan and profit sharing plan) Since we are 1099'd we don't have access to a 401k, unless we want to set one up.  I have axed my smaller accounts though.  I gave them the number to Raymond James. .

[/quote]

Advisor's like this have given the business a bad name.  Are you saying Amex did not give you quotas? Did not push you to sell crappy AMEX funds?   Did not pressure you to sell VULs whether or not they were good for your clients.  Sound like the name of your game is to make money at any cost.  You can have that money.  I only want to make money when I have treated my customer fairly and done the best to provide full service financial planning for them.  Ray Jay lets me do that.  Oh, I make a very good living too.

Ameriprise Fined by NASD for Improper Supervision of College Savings Plan Sales

The National Association of Securities Dealers, which regulates brokerages, also ordered the firm to pay about $750,000 to compensate more than 500 customer accounts hurt by what it calls "supervisory failures." The investigation into the transactions began before Ameriprise went public on Sept. 30.

This marks the first time a company has received a penalty in the NASD's inquiry into 529 plans, which are state-sponsored savings vehicles designed to give tax advantages for future expenses on higher education. There have been concerns about excessive fees and sales of out-of-state plans to clients who would have been shielded them from state income tax exposure by purchasing an in-state plan.

perfect…

So we have to buy our own state 529 plans to get the state tax deduction?  What are the F*cking regulators doing?