Ameriprise's relationship with Comerica in limbo after Fifth Third deal

It's unclear how Fifth Third Bank's pending $11 billion acquisition of Comerica Bank could affect the seller's wealth management services relationship with Ameriprise.

In an earnings call with analysts after Minneapolis-based Ameriprise released its third-quarter results on Oct. 30, CEO Jim Cracchiolo didn't reveal whether or not the close of the deal could lead to about 100 Comerica financial advisors with $15 billion in client assets dropping Ameriprise for Fifth Third. The parties announced the deal to create the country's ninth-largest bank earlier this month, and Fifth Third has been building up its own wealth management business. M&A deals often, but not always, mean new brokerage and custodial relationships.

"We have an excellent relationship with Comerica since we've done the arrangement and put them on our platform and capabilities, working with their advisors and their clients," Cracchiolo said, according to a transcript by Quartr API and Yahoo Finance. "We have gotten very strong favorable reviews from Comerica themselves, from their executives, from their wealth management group and their advisors. They love the platform, the capabilities, the tools, etc. We feel very good about that relationship. We know an acquisition has occurred. We'll be working with them as they decide how they want to proceed, and we feel very comfortable with the arrangement we had in place with them and the contract and agreements." 

That possible mega-move would follow some other substantial advisor losses that crimped asset flows for the Ameriprise Advice and Wealth Management unit. But Ameriprise's wealth arm nevertheless produced big profits and some record metrics in the last three months.    

To see the key wealth management takeaways from Ameriprise's third-quarter earnings statement, scroll down the page. And follow these links to see analysis of the company's results from the first and second quarters of 2025 and the first, second, third and fourth quarters of 2024.

Recruiting wins and losses

While the company no longer discloses its total headcount, Ameriprise shared that it recruited 90 experienced advisors in the quarter — a 27% bump from the same period in 2024. The incoming advisors included nine managing more than $1.6 billion in client assets with Boca Raton, Florida-based The Atlantic Group, which joined Ameriprise's branch channel from Oppenheimer & Company.

"We've always prioritized delivering a high-touch, personalized experience to our clients," Atlantic founding partner Andrew Lerner said in a statement. "Ameriprise offers the advanced planning tools, broad range of investment products and top-tier technology that allow us to take that experience to the next level."

On the other hand, Ameriprise's earnings release noted that "the impact of two large advisor practices departing in the quarter" had pushed down its client asset flows. Registered investment advisory firm NorthRock Partners, rivals Raymond James and the Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network and a newly launched RIA have unveiled significant teams' exits from Ameriprise in the past few months.

Representatives for the firm declined to comment on the identity of the teams that left, but Cracchiolo addressed the moves when an analyst asked him about them on the call.

"Over the last few quarters these two practices went RIA and listen, there are checks being given out and other things, but overall it's fine," he said. "We recruited very strongly. We have 90 people joining us. Our pipeline is quite good. Our underlying organic business is very solid. Our advisor satisfaction is very strong. You're always going to have some one-offs as we mentioned. We look at the totality of what we're doing and how we're doing it. You know, environments will change, there's always a price to pay. We feel very good about our position."

READ MORE: When should a financial advisor launch an RIA?   

Financial advisor productivity

Rising asset values and client transactions and advisory accounts boosted Ameriprise's adjusted operating net revenue per advisor by 10% year over year to a record $1.1 million in the third quarter.

Client assets

The loss of the two big teams shrank Ameriprise's asset flows in the third quarter. Incoming advisory assets dropped 40% year over year to $4.8 billion, while total flows fell 60% to $3.4 billion.

At the same time, the company avoided an outflow into the negative numbers that sometimes afflict wealth management firms with even bigger losses. And client holdings have reached new highs overall and in advisory accounts, due to asset appreciation and incoming accounts. Client assets jumped 11% to $1.14 trillion, and RIA accounts surged 14% to $650.3 billion.

Expenses

The increased advisor productivity and higher asset values ramped up Ameriprise's expenses in the third quarter. Adjusted operating expenses rose 10% to $2.1 billion.

Bottom line

Regardless, Ameriprise's wealth unit generated pretax adjusted operating income of $881 million on $3 billion in revenue for a profit margin of 29.5% in the third quarter. Profit climbed 7% from the same period a year ago, while revenue expanded by 9% and margin ticked down by 60 basis points.

READ MORE: Should financial advisors be dually registered or RIA-only?

Remark

Ameriprise celebrated 20 years as an independent, publicly traded company earlier this month, with Cracchiolo and other executives ringing the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange and a donation of $100,000 to nonprofit hunger relief organization Feeding America. Onetime parent American Express spun off the company formerly known as American Express Financial Advisors in a 2005 initial public offering at about $35 a share. As of midday trading on Oct. 30, Ameriprise's stock cost more than $462 per share.

"The Ameriprise team and I are proud of what we have achieved since becoming an independent, public company 20 years ago, including delivering the number one total shareholder return within the S&P 500 Financials Index during that time," Cracchiolo said in a statement. "As we look ahead, we're focused on serving our clients exceptionally well while positioning the firm to continue to drive shareholder value in an increasingly fluid economic and market environment."