Ameriprise Review: Points to Know
• Full-service brokerage and investment-advisory accounts are available through Ameriprise Financial.
• Ameriprise offers other services, including insurance products and bank accounts.
• Personalized financial planning is one of Ameriprise’s main specialties.
Overview of Ameriprise
Ameriprise Financial is a Fortune 500 company that provides many useful services through financial advisors located across the country.
Ameriprise Investing
For securities trading, Ameriprise offers full-service brokerage and investment-advisory accounts. These relationships are generally established with an Ameriprise financial advisor, who can work with clients in person or virtually. After an eligible brokerage account is open, clients can place certain trades online, through the mobile app, by phone, or through an advisor.
Ameriprise offers the following assets for investing:
- Stocks, including some OTC stocks
- Options
- Warrants
- Structured products
- Unit investment trusts (UITs)
- Mutual funds
- Exchange-traded and closed-end funds
- Bonds and other fixed-income vehicles
- Alternative investments, including:
- Hedge funds
- Managed futures funds
- Business development companies
- Non-traded REITs and closed-end funds
- Real estate private placements
- 1031 exchanges
- Private equity
- Syndicate offerings
The above investments can be held in taxable accounts and a variety of tax-advantaged accounts. Ameriprise offers custodial accounts, 529 plans, Individual Retirement Accounts, workplace retirement plans such as 401(k) plans, Coverdell Education Savings Accounts, trusts, and more.
Banking
Because Ameriprise wants to be a one-stop financial-services firm, it does not stop with investing. It also offers a variety of cash-management and banking products. Some products can be arranged through a financial advisor, while eligible clients can open certain checking, savings, and CD accounts online.
Examples of cash products available at Ameriprise include:
- Savings accounts
- Certificates of Deposit
- Ameriprise ONE® Financial Account
- Visa debit and credit cards
- Home loans
- Securities-based lending
The Ameriprise ONE® Financial Account is a brokerage account with cash-management features. It comes with check writing, a debit card, and online bill pay. Because it is a securities account, it can invest in many of the securities listed in the first section.
Regular and cash-enhanced brokerage accounts at Ameriprise can invest in a variety of money-market products that yield around 3.05% right now. The company also has an FDIC-insured multi-bank sweep program that generally yields much less but can provide up to $2.5 million in FDIC coverage per depositor, or up to $5 million for joint ownerships, under ordinary business conditions.
Insurance
After investing and banking comes insurance. Because Ameriprise is a traditional full-service firm, insurance is a major priority. Ameriprise makes a variety of insurance products available through affiliated and third-party insurance companies. These products include:
- Disability income insurance
- Annuities, including fixed, variable, structured, fixed-index, and immediate annuities
- Auto and home insurance
- Life insurance
- Long-term care insurance
Financial Planning
To round out the financial picture, Ameriprise offers financial planning through its investment adviser representatives. Services that may be available through this program include:
- Advice related to investing, banking, and insurance
- Tax-planning strategies
- Personalized financial plans
- Trust management
- Estate-planning strategies
- Retirement income
- Retirement planning
- Cash-flow management
- Estate settlement
- Business valuation for financial-planning purposes
- Employee benefits
- Education funding
- Goal planning
- And more...
Ameriprise and its affiliates do not provide tax or legal advice. Advisors can help clients consider tax and estate-planning strategies and coordinate with attorneys, accountants, and other professionals.
In addition to in-person financial planning, Ameriprise has a team of virtual advisors who work with clients through digital channels.
Ameriprise Fees and Minimums
With such a long list of financial services, you may be thinking there’s probably a cost for all of this—and there is. Managed accounts are charged a percentage of assets under management. The maximum advisory fee is 2%, but platform fees, investment-manager fees, infrastructure fees, underlying investment expenses, and certain transaction costs may increase the total cost above 2%. Investment minimums depend on the program. Client-directed programs can start at $2,000 per account with a $25,000 household minimum, manager-directed programs can require $5,000 to $500,000 per account, and advisor-directed programs can start at $2,000 per account with a $100,000 household minimum.
Brokerage accounts generally have no asset-based management fees, although they can have quarterly maintenance or custodial fees, transaction fees, commissions, and other charges that will be disclosed during account opening.
Self-directed accounts have annual or quarterly fees that vary by account type. A 529 account has a $25 annual fee. The Ameriprise ONE® Financial Account costs $25 per quarter and has a $500 minimum to open. The annual fee on a Coverdell account is $10. Many of these recurring charges can be waived, reversed, or reduced under specific conditions, such as qualifying for Ameriprise Achiever Circle Elite status with at least $500,000 in eligible household assets.
Financial planning for investment-advisory customers can be included through a consolidated advisory-fee relationship, although it’s
possible to obtain a financial plan without an advisory relationship. The minimum annual fee for a new or existing Ameriprise Financial Planning Service agreement is $750, and an advisor may charge more.
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Margin
Brokerage clients at Ameriprise can buy securities with borrowed money. Ameriprise uses a variable, tiered margin schedule, with lower rates generally available for larger debit balances. The firm’s margin schedule is as follows:
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Debit Balance
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Margin Interest Rates
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$500,000+
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10%
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$100,000 - $499,999.99
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10.5%
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$50,000 - $99,999.99
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11%
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$25,000 - $49,999.99
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12.25%
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$0 - $24,999.99
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13%
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Software
Ameriprise has a website, mobile app, and automated phone system. Brokerage trades can be placed on the website and through the phone system. The mobile app also supports equity trades, although options cannot be traded through the app. There is no desktop software.
Extra Services
DRIP Service: Automatic dividend reinvestment is possible in some account types at Ameriprise.
Extended-Hours Trading: Not available.
Stock-Lending Income Program: Not available, either.
IPO Access: Ameriprise offers access to primary offerings of closed-end funds and preferred securities, but not common stock.
IRA Service: Ameriprise generally charges a $75 annual custodial fee for IRAs holding brokerage assets or mutual funds. The fee may be waived in some cases, and IRAs invested only through a managed account, annuity, or Ameriprise Certificate do not pay the annual custodial fee.
Recommendations
Frequent Stock Trading: Ameriprise doesn’t offer the software needed for advanced equity trading.
We suggest Charles Schwab instead.
Long-Term Investors & Retirement Savers: Ameriprise would be a very good choice.
Small Accounts: Because of Ameriprise’s minimums and fee schedule, we cannot suggest it for small
investors. Charles Schwab, by comparison, has no minimum for standard individual brokerage accounts and charges $0 commissions on online trades of listed U.S. stocks and ETFs. Schwab Intelligent Portfolios has a $5,000 minimum but does not charge an advisory fee.
Beginning Investors: Ameriprise is a very good firm for beginners who can meet the account minimums.
Mutual Funds: Ameriprise has roughly 2,200 mutual funds.
Charles Schwab, by
comparison, offers more than 4,000 no-transaction-fee mutual funds. We would go with Firstrade.
Ameriprise Financial Review Verdict
For traditional full-service investing, Ameriprise is worth considering. But for active stock, options, and crypto trading, we would look elsewhere.
Updated on 6/18/2026.
Chad Morris is a financial writer with more than 20 years experience
as both an English teacher and an avid trader. When he isn’t writing
expert content for Brokerage-Review.com, Chad can usually be found
managing his portfolio or building a new home computer.
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