A diversified financial services firm, Ameriprise helps millions of retail clients plan and invest through a network of more than ten thousand financial advisors, while its Columbia Threadneedle Investments arm manages money for institutions worldwide and its RiverSource brand sells annuities and life insurance. It traces its roots to 1894, when John Tappan founded Investors Syndicate in Minneapolis to let everyday households save through installment investment certificates. After American Express bought the business in 1984 and spun it off in 2005, the new company took the name Ameriprise—a blend of "American" and "rise" meant to evoke helping clients climb toward their goals.
Adjusted operating EPS rose 19% to $11.98 as wealth management asset growth and a smaller variable annuity hedge drag lifted results.
The variable annuity hedge shrank again, letting more of the wealth management growth reach the . rose 11.6% to $5.0 billion and climbed 11.6% to $11.98, driven by a 21% increase in average advisory wrap account assets to $694 billion and a $276 million smaller unfavorable market impact on variable annuity guarantees. The core advice business is growing faster than the legacy insurance drag is receding, but the disclosed equity sensitivity widened to $788 million.
Key takeaways
rose 5.0% to $1.11 billion, a move that understates the operating trajectory because it still includes a $184 million unfavorable market impact on variable annuity guarantees, though that impact shrank by $123 million from a year ago.
Advice & Wealth Management rose 16% to $939 million, as a 21% increase in average advisory wrap account assets to $694 billion from market appreciation and net inflows lifted management and financial advice fees.
Section summaries
Management's Discussion and Analysis
Ameriprise Q2 FY2026 net income rose 5% to $1.1B, driven by 27% higher equity markets and wrap net inflows, partially offset by lower variable annuity benefits.
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Consolidated net grew 13% to $4.9B, with management and financial advice fees up 18% on market appreciation and net inflows.
Asset Management increased 23% to $274 million, benefiting from equity market appreciation and strong Seligman technology strategies, partially offset by net outflows.
Retirement & Protection Solutions declined 6% to $202 million, reflecting the cumulative impact of variable annuity net outflows and higher sales volume.
was $2.89 billion, up 63.6% , while rose 65.1% to $2.85 billion; the company repurchased 3.3 million shares for an average price of $470.84 and paid $310 million in dividends.
The parent company held $1.5 billion in cash and liquid securities, and the disclosed pretax sensitivity to a 10% equity decline widened to $788 million, up from $608 million in Q1 2026 and $510 million at year-end 2025.
What changed
The variable annuity market impact expense shrank to $184 million this quarter from $307 million a year ago, continuing the favorable trend flagged in Q1 2026 when the narrowed by $276 million; the item is now a smaller drag on results than at any point in the past year.
The pretax sensitivity to a 10% equity decline widened to $788 million, up from $608 million in Q1 2026 and $510 million at year-end 2025 — the risk flagged in every prior filing has grown, not receded, even as the actual market impact expense has shrunk.
Advice & Wealth Management growth accelerated to 16% from 4% in Q1 2025 and a 1% decline in Q2 2025, as the 21% increase in average advisory wrap assets — up from 17% in Q1 2026 — more than offset distribution expense pressure that had compressed margins a year ago.
Parent company liquidity fell to $1.5 billion from $2.3 billion in Q1 2026, while the pace accelerated to 3.3 million shares from 1.6 million, suggesting the company deployed more of its liquid assets toward buybacks this quarter.
What to watch
Whether the $788 million pretax sensitivity to a 10% equity decline materializes in Q3, and whether the variable annuity hedging program contains the impact within the disclosed range as equity markets move.
The trajectory of Asset Management net outflows — the filing cites cumulative outflows as an offset but does not quantify the quarter's figure, leaving open whether the trend is stabilizing or continuing after FY2025's $31.7 billion.
The pace of share repurchases against the remaining authorization, and whether parent company liquidity at $1.5 billion — down from $2.3 billion last quarter — constrains the cadence or signals a need for additional debt issuance.
The reinvestment of $3.0 billion in non-structured fixed securities and loans with a 4.1% weighted average yield maturing through mid-2028, and whether declining reinvestment rates begin to pressure in Retirement & Protection Solutions.
Advice & Wealth Management rose 16% to $939M, driven by a 21% increase in average advisory assets to $694B.
Asset Management increased 23% to $274M, benefiting from equity market appreciation and strong Seligman technology strategies, partially offset by net outflows.
Retirement & Protection Solutions declined 6% to $202M, reflecting the cumulative impact of variable annuity net outflows and higher sales volume.
The parent company held $1.5B in cash and liquid securities, and returned $310M to shareholders via dividends while repurchasing 3.3M shares for an average price of $470.84.
Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
Primary market risks are equity, interest rate, and credit; the company uses a hedging program targeting first-order sensitivities.
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A hypothetical 10% equity decline would reduce pretax income by a net $788 million, driven largely by asset-based fees and variable annuity benefits.
A hypothetical 100 parallel rate rise would increase pretax income by a net $418 million, with variable annuity benefits contributing $377 million of the gain.
The hedging program focuses on Delta, Rho, and Vega, using options, swaptions, swaps, and futures to match asset and liability sensitivities.
Fixed annuity and insurance spread income is not hedged; a $14.9 billion liability block could see spreads widen under modestly rising rates given current GMIR levels.
is monitored via ; $3.0 billion in non-structured fixed securities and loans may be reinvested through mid-2028 at a 4.1% average yield.
Sensitivity tests assume no change in implied volatility and no shifts in client behavior, so actual results could differ materially from the illustrated impacts.