The story
The company, known initially as Investors Syndicate, was founded in Minneapolis in 1894 by John Elliott Tappan.
In 1925, West Coast businessman J. R. Ridgway merged his investment firm with Investors Syndicate, and took over as president.
In 1937, upon the death of then 50-year-old J. R. Ridgway from leukemia, 23-year-old J. R. Ridgway, Jr. was appointed president.
In 1940, Investors Syndicate introduced one of the first mutual funds, the Investors Mutual Fund, giving clients new investing options and two advantages: diversification and professional management. In 1949, Investors Syndicate changed its name to Investors Diversified Services, Inc. (IDS).
In 1958, IDS founded the Investors Syndicate Life Insurance and Annuity Company (now known as RiverSource Life Insurance Company).
By the 1960s, Investors Mutual Fund was the largest balanced mutual fund in the world.
In 1974, the IDS Centre (now IDS Center) was opened in downtown Minneapolis as the company's headquarters. In 1979, the Ridgway family sold the last of its ownership interest. IDS became a wholly owned subsidiary of Alleghany Corporation pursuant to a merger.
In 1984, American Express acquired IDS Financial Services from Alleghany Corporation. In 1986, IDS acquired Wisconsin Employers Casualty Company of Green Bay, Wisconsin and renamed it IDS Property Casualty Insurance Company.
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Effective January 1, 1995, IDS changed its name to American Express Financial Corporation, doing business as American Express Financial Advisors (AEFA).
In October 2003, AEFA acquired London-based Threadneedle Asset Management Holdings. In September 2005, American Express completed the corporate spin-off of AEFA as Ameriprise Financial, Inc., a public company. In September 2006, the company launched Ameriprise Bank, FSB. In February 2008, Threadneedle acquired Invesco Perpetual's full-service defined contribution pension business, which had total assets of £470 million. In November 2008, the company acquired H&R Block Financial Advisors for $315 million, and the asset management firm J. & W. Seligman & Co. for $440 million. In 2009, Ameriprise acquired Standard Chartered Bank's World Express Funds investment funds business, providing Threadneedle with an established Luxembourg-based SICAV platform with over US$2.38 billion worth assets under management.
In May 2010, Ameriprise Financial acquired Columbia Management, the long-term asset management business of Bank of America, for $1 billion.
In August 2011, Threadneedle announced the acquisition of the £8 billion in investment assets of LV=.
During the Great Recession, the company declined an investment by the United States Department of the Treasury under the Troubled Asset Relief Program.
On April 25, 2011, Ameriprise announced that it was seeking an "appropriate buyer" for Securities America Financial Corporation, allowing its registered representatives to focus on growth opportunities. In November 2011, Ameriprise completed the sale of Securities America to Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services for $150 million in cash and potential future payments.
In January 2012, the company opened services to individuals in India with US$40,000 equivalent minimum income. Ameriprise also established an insurance brokerage entity in India that
was licensed to deal in insurance products by India's Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA). Ameriprise India established offices in Delhi, Gurgaon, Greater Noida, Mumbai & Pune. In May 2014, Ameriprise shut down the nascent financial planning division in India, citing poor prospects for fee-based advisory services.
In January 2013, the company completed the conversion of its federal savings bank subsidiary, Ameriprise Bank, FSB, to a limited powers national trust bank, which conversion included changing the name of this subsidiary to Ameriprise National Trust Bank.
In 2015, Threadneedle rebranded as Columbia Threadneedle.
In 2017, the company acquired Investment Professionals, Inc.
In 2019, the company sold Ameriprise Auto & Home Insurance to American Family Insurance for $1.05 billion.
In May 2022, Ameriprise announced that Phoenix-based financial advisory organisation, Phoenix Wealth Management, had joined Ameriprise Financial. The director of Phoenix Wealth Management, Christine Gustafson, and her team joined the organisation with more than $450 million in client assets, including assets from individuals, family offices, and charitable foundations.
From Wikipedia’s article on Ameriprise Financial, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.8