BofA Cuts Ameriprise to Underperform as $12.75B in Advisor Assets Walk Out
AMP is trading near its 52-week low of $422.37 (14% above the low).
Summary
BofA Securities downgraded Ameriprise to Underperform from Buy and slashed its price target to $445 from $570, citing advisor attrition as a structural problem rather than a one-off. Five advisory teams left between May and September, taking roughly $12.75 billion in client assets with them — the largest, Rise Private Wealth Management, accounted for $8.1 billion. Three of those teams set up independent RIAs custodied at Charles Schwab, which BofA says reflects the attractive economics of RIA ownership. The analysts see organic growth of just 1.6% next year versus 8.1% for LPL Financial and 5.3% for Raymond James, and note nearly half of Ameriprise's roughly 10% long-term earnings growth comes from buybacks rather than the business. Retention bonuses meant to stem the departures could pressure operating margins, and the analysts flag AI-driven fee transparency as a further risk to client cash spreads. Shares fell 3.2% to $484.77 and are down 15% from the August 13 closing high of $570.68, making it one of the S&P 500's worst performers on the day.
At the time of this announcement, AMP was trading at $482.60 on NYSE in the Finance sector, with a market capitalization of approximately $42.6B. The 52-week trading range was $422.37 to $572.56. This news item was assessed with negative market sentiment and an importance score of 7 out of 10. Source: Dow Jones Newswires.