Ameriprise (AMP) Q3 2026 Earnings: Asset Management Outflows Hit $9.3B

Ameriprise (AMP) reported third-quarter 2026 earnings on October 29, 2026, in an 8-K earnings release covering the quarter ended September 30. Profits and capital return stayed strong, while outflows at its asset management business accelerated [1]. Four questions framed the quarter: advisor-channel flows, the cash spread, the Columbia Threadneedle margin, and annuity earnings with capital return.

The wealth business reported total client flows of negative $8.46 billion. Excluding Comerica, client net inflows were $5.3 billion, and management said roughly $19 billion of Comerica assets had largely left the platform [1][2]. The cash spread and annuity earnings stayed within their earlier ranges. Asset management net outflows widened to $9.3 billion, and its 45.7% margin rested on market appreciation and cost control [1]. Overall, growth still comes from the advisor channel and cash generation is unchanged, but the weak point in profit conversion has moved to asset management.

Ameriprise is one of the leading branded financial advisor platforms in the US. Its more than 10,000 advisors mainly serve households with $500,000 to $5,000,000 in investable assets [3]. The company earns advisory and management fees charged on client assets, a spread between client cash and bank assets, and spread income and contract charges from RiverSource annuities and life insurance [3].

Columbia Threadneedle outflows widened while its margin reached a new high

Columbia Threadneedle posted total net outflows of $9.32 billion in the third quarter, up from $6.47 billion in the second quarter and $3.44 billion a year earlier [1]. Institutional net outflows grew from $5.09 billion to $6.42 billion. The company attributed them to client asset allocation decisions, and management said fixed income was weaker [1][2]. Retail net new outflows, which exclude reinvested dividends, were $6.11 billion versus $4.16 billion in the second quarter. That shows the narrower second-quarter retail outflow came mainly from seasonal dividend reinvestment [1].

Profits moved in the opposite direction from flows. Asset Management pretax adjusted operating earnings rose 18% to $308 million, and the net pretax adjusted operating margin rose 3.6 percentage points to 45.7%, above the company's 35%-39% target range [1]. General and administrative expenses rose only 2%, and the underlying fee rate held at about 48 basis points [1][2]. The margin gain came mainly from market appreciation, which lifted average managed assets 7%. Flows themselves did not improve [1].

For now, rising markets are masking the asset losses. Assets under management and advisement fell 2% from the prior quarter to about $742.6 billion at quarter end, which will reduce average fee-earning assets next quarter [1]. A back-office transformation was scheduled to finish at the end of the third quarter, but this quarter's materials did not report on its progress.

Comerica's exit hit reported advisor flows, but flows excluding Comerica improved

Reported flows in the advisor channel weakened in the third quarter because the Comerica assets left in a concentrated batch. Total client flows went from $3.05 billion in the second quarter to negative $8.46 billion. Net flows into wrap accounts, which charge advisory fees on assets, fell from $6.94 billion to $4.85 billion [1]. On the company's ex-Comerica basis, client net inflows rose 56% year over year to $5.3 billion, and wrap net inflows rose 38% to $6.6 billion [1]. No comparable ex-Comerica figure was disclosed for the second quarter.

Comerica's exit did not hurt the channel's profitability. The company added 79 experienced advisors in the quarter. Trailing 12-month revenue per advisor rose 13% to $1.24 million, and Advice & Wealth Management pretax adjusted operating earnings rose 12% to $989 million at a 29.3% margin [1]. Management said a small portion of Comerica assets will still leave but did not quantify it [2].

Assets arriving from Huntington come from a channel addition and do not count as organic growth. The company has completed the transition of 258 Huntington advisors, with about $28 billion of client assets transferring through early 2027. Nearly $4 billion more from Cadence will move over in mid-2027 [1]. The timing of those transfers and how much will be retained have not been disclosed.

Conclusion

The quarter confirms that the advisor channel remains the growth source, and that the negative reported flows came from a known one-time exit. The cash spread was $387 million, and Retirement & Protection Solutions earned $198 million before the annual assumption update. The company returned $1.026 billion to shareholders, 93% of adjusted operating earnings, and announced a new $5.5 billion share repurchase authorization [1]. The profit-conversion risk now sits in asset management, where the high margin depends on markets. Two tests matter next quarter: whether reported advisor flows turn positive after Comerica, and whether asset management outflows keep shrinking its asset base. The earnings call transcript is missing its opening, so excess capital and back-office transformation progress remain unknown [2].

Sources

[1] AMP Q3 2026 8-K filed 2026-10-29, 2026-10-29, Ameriprise Financial 8-K earnings release (Exhibit 99.1), https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/820027/000082002726000050/q32026er.htm [2] AMP Q3 2026 earnings call 2026-10-29, 2026-10-29, Ameriprise Financial third-quarter 2026 earnings call [3] AMP FY2025 10-K filed 2026-02-19, 2026-02-19, Ameriprise Financial 10-K annual report, https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0000820027&type=10-K&dateb=&owner=include&count=40