When i was graduating from UF, I knew nothing about nothing.  I went on an interview with American Express Advisors, at the time, and despite not know anything, i refused to work there.  It just had a wierd, polyester suit type atmosphere.  I can also say, in my last 4 years of doing this, I don’t think I ever reviewed an account from a prospect with AE.  Either their clients love them, or their clients don’t have any money.  I will say, at several restaurants I have been to, I have seen their card bowl…now that’s marketing genius!

They need to improve their tech package.  It is considered extremely below standard and a huge issue (among others) for many of the current reps that are leaving.

What do they need to improve most?

[quote=Lyle]Ameriprise Financial is rolling out a new technology platform later this year.  It seems they are scrapping the entire existing platform (yuk) in favor of one that is rumored to set the industry standard.  Anyone hear this??[/quote]

They arent really scrapping the old system, they are selling it to Jones.  This should help bring EDJ up to 1990's technology while incorporating superior financial planning tools. 

Sorry, I cant help myself.

[quote=exdrone]

[quote=Lyle]Ameriprise Financial is rolling out a new technology platform later this year.  It seems they are scrapping the entire existing platform (yuk) in favor of one that is rumored to set the industry standard.  Anyone hear this??[/quote]

They arent really scrapping the old system, they are selling it to Jones.  This should help bring EDJ up to 1990's technology while incorporating superior financial planning tools. 

Sorry, I cant help myself.

what it ultimately means is that they will be a crappy firm with a new name and new technology…in the end they are still a bunch of insurance salesmen…

I've said it before, and I'll say it again:

Would you like to super-size this financial plan with one of our stellar, proprietary VUL's?

AMEX/Ameriprise stinks in my area…proprietary annuities and funds (B shares sometimes well over 300k) Sorta explains why they are on the way out of the bizz… Just curious…do they (or did they) ever train brokers to miss break points to up their commmish? Company way or just bad brokers?

[quote=frumhere]I can also say, in my last 4 years of doing this, I
don’t think I ever reviewed an account from a prospect with AE. 
Either their clients love them, or their clients don’t have any
money.[/quote]



We get a lot of ACATs in from Ameriprise at the discount firm I work
for.   Not any really big accounts and it always seems the Reps
put them into loaded funds that have to be sold prior to transfer…

Proprietary AMEX funds can only be held at AMEX. They have no selling agreements with other firms, so you must liquidate and move over cash. There is usually a horribly performing and expensive annuity (IDT of New York I think???) in there as well that further locks in the client to AMEX. Back when I used to confront AMEX all the time, I would usually be fairly accurate when predicting to a prospect what they had without opening the statment they had brought. Its amazing the reaction when you cal out whaty they hold without browsing their holdings. Further reinforces your sale since they tend to have a one-size-fits-all investment recommendation…

that is why client sells before transfer

I only have one good thing to say about Ameriprise.

If you can survive two years there, then you have earned my respect.  Candidates tell me that the firm offers little meaningful training, no marketing support and sub-standard products.  If you can thrive in that environment then you must be very good at what you do.

They raised the nut again on target production after the first couple of years.  It used to be around $60k in production and it’s in the neighborhood of $80k, now.  Anyone that is there that can come close to the rest of the industry’s standards ($50k/year, $5M AUM/year) has a good deal of potential if they’re let loose in a less captive environment with up-to-date technology and a real platform.