Ameriprise added three advisors who managed $265 million in combined client assets, according to the firm.
The Minneapolis-based firm and other regionals such as Raymond James and RBC have been aggressively courting potential hires in a bid to boost their ranks. They’ve been able to do so thanks in part to a perception that their corporate cultures are more broker-friendly.
Ameriprise currently has more than 9,000 independent and employee advisors. In the last month, it hired a veteran advisor from Edward Jones with $363 million in client assets and a 19-year Merrill Lynch advisor who managed $463 million in assets, according to hiring announcements.
This year has seen more moves, bigger moves and more expensive moves.
The firm’s most recent recruits, Stephanie Karpow and Robert Lester, moved to Ameriprise’s San Diego office from MSI Financial where they oversaw $156 million in assets, the firm says.
“I felt Ameriprise was the right move because of the large selection of investment and insurance options my team can customize to help clients achieve their financial goals,” Karpow said in a statement about the move.
Lester entered the industry in 1980 at Phoenix Equity Planning. Karpow started her career at New England Securities where she met Lester in 2009. He had joined the firm in 1998, according to FINRA BrokerCheck records.
Katherine Kicklighter joined Ameriprise from Hilliard Lyons’s Louisville, Kentucky office where she managed $109 million in assets, according to the firm. Kicklighter started her career at J.C. Bradford in 1998, FINRA BrokerCheck records show.
Hilliard Lyons declined to comment on the departures and MSI Financial could not be reached.
