Ameriprise Financial is a diversified financial services company with a more than 125-year history of providing solutions to help clients confidently achieve their financial objectives. Ameriprise Financial, Inc. is a holding company incorporated in Delaware that primarily engages in business through its subsidiaries. Accordingly, references to “Ameriprise,” “Ameriprise Financial,” the “Company,” “we,” “us,” and “our” may refer to Ameriprise Financial, Inc. exclusively, to our entire family of companies, or to one or more of our subsidiaries. Our headquarters is located at 55 Ameriprise Financial Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55474. We also maintain executive offices in New York City.

We are a long-standing leader in financial planning and advice with $973 billion in assets under management and administration as of December 31, 2019. We offeroffering a broad range of products and services designed to achieve individual and institutional clients’ financial objectives. Our strategy is centered on helping our clients confidently achieve their goals by providing holistic advice and by managing and protecting their assets and income. We utilize two go-to-market approaches in carrying out this strategy: Wealth Management and Asset Management.

We are an industry-leading wealth manager with a differentiated advice value proposition. Our network of over 10,000 financial advisors (our “advisors”) is the primary channel through which we carry out our differentiatedwealth management activities. Our capabilities are centered on establishing long-term personal relationships between our clients and our advisors. Through our affiliated advisors, we offer financial planning model, broad range ofand advice, as well as banking and full-service brokerage services, primarily to retail clients.

We design products and services as solutions for our clients’ cash and demonstratedliquidity, asset accumulation, income, retirement, protection, and estate and wealth transfer needs. The financial strength throughout times of economicsolutions we offer through our advisors also include other providers’ products as well as our own products and market uncertainty position usservices. We distribute our own life and disability income insurance, as well as variable and structured annuity products through our advisor channel.

Our advisor force is among the largest in the industry and is central to capitalize on these trends and besthow we serve our clients. We support our advisors with an integrated technology platform, training, leadership and marketing programs to assist them in serving their clients and growing their practices. Our nationally recognized brand combined with these programs and other support creates a compelling value proposition for financial advisors across the financial services industry. This is evidenced by our strong advisor retention and satisfaction and our ability to attract and retain experienced and productive advisors. We continuously invest in, achieving their goals.develop, and refine capabilities and tools designed to maximize advisor productivity and client satisfaction.

Our Advice & Wealth Management segment providesWe provide financial planning and advice, as well as full-service brokerage services, primarily to retail clients through our financial advisors. These services are centered on long-term, personal relationships between our advisors and our clients and focus on helping clients confidently achieve their financial goals. Our financial advisors provide a distinctive, holistic approach to financial planning and have access to a broad selection of both affiliated and non-affiliated products to help clients meet their financial needs and goals.

A significant portion of revenues in this segment are fee-based and driven by the level of client assets, which is impacted by both market movements and net asset flows. We also earn net investment income on owned assets from certificateAmeriprise Certificate Company and banking products. ThisAmeriprise Bank, both wholly owned subsidiaries of Ameriprise, and we earn financial planning fees as well as transaction and other fees. In addition, this segment earns revenues (distribution fees)revenue from distribution fees for providing non-affiliated products and intersegment revenues (distribution fees)from distribution fees for providing our affiliated products and services to our retail clients. Intersegment expenses for this segment include expenses for investment management services provided by our Asset Management segment. All intersegment activity is eliminated in our consolidated results.

business expenses. In addition, our franchisee advisors pay a franchise association fee and other fees in exchange forWe offer the support we offer and the right to use our brand name. The support we offer to our franchisee advisors includes generalist and specialist leadership support, technology platforms and tools, training and marketing programs.

The investment management activities of Columbia Threadneedle Investments are conducted through specialized investment management teams located in multiple locations,around the globe, including Amsterdam, Boston, Chicago, Hong Kong, Houston, London, Los Angeles, London,Menlo Park, Minneapolis, New York, Menlo Park, Portland and Singapore. Each investment management team may focus on particular investment strategies, asset types, products and on services offered and distribution channels utilized. Within the global asset management business, we deploy our investment teams across multiple jurisdictions pursuant to sub-advisory and personnel sharing arrangements on an intercompany basis.

Our investment management capabilities and products span a broad range of asset classes and investment styles. The portfolios underlying our product and service offerings may focus on providing solutionsstyles to investors through one or more U.S. or non-U.S.meet a variety of client needs. Looking at the type of the $754 billion in assets we manage, we have approximately 54% in equity, 37% in fixed income, bank loan, property, multi-asset allocation, alternative (including5% in alternatives (which includes real estate, CLOs, private equity, hedge funds, infrastructure and liquid alternatives) orcommodities), 3% in hybrids and other asset classes. The strategies utilizedand 1% in the management of such portfolios varies depending on the needs and desired outcomes or objectives of individual and institutional investors. We continually assess these capabilities to help ensure our product and services offerings are responsive to the evolving needs of our clients.

We offer separately managed account services and certain funds to high net worth clients and to a wide variety of institutional clients, including pension plans, employee savings plans, foundations, sovereign wealth funds, endowments, corporations, banks, trusts, governmental entities, high-net-worthhigh net worth individuals and not-for-profit organizations. We provide investment management services for insurance companies, including our insurance subsidiaries. We also provide a variety of services for our institutional clients that sponsor retirement plans. We have dedicated institutional sales teams that market directly to such institutional clients. We concentrate on establishing strong relationships with both institutional clients as well as leading global and national consultancy firms across North America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, New Zealand and Australia.

Reinsurance

Our Corporate & Other segment consists of the long term careclosed blocks of business and net investment income or loss on corporate level assets, including excess capital held in our subsidiaries and other unallocated equity and other revenues as well as unallocated corporate expenses. Prior to the sale on October 1, 2019, our Ameriprise Auto and Home Insurance business was included in this segment.

Closed Block Long Term Care Insurance

For more information regarding LTC, see Part II, Item 7 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K under the heading “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations – Corporate and Other.”Other” included in Part II, Item 7 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Competitors of our Annuities andRetirement & Protection segmentsSolutions segment consist of both stock and mutual insurance companies. Competitive factors affecting the sale of variable annuity and insurance products include distribution capabilities, price, product features, hedging capability, investment performance, commission structure, perceived financial strength and financial strength ratings, claims-paying ratings, service, advertising, brand recognition and financial strength ratings from rating agencies such as A.M. Best.

Our diversity, equity and inclusion vision is to foster an integratedinclusive culture and recently updated customer management systemdiverse workforce so that serveseveryone at Ameriprise feels like they belong, grow and contribute in a culture that helps them realize their potential. This includes ensuring meaningful conversations between leaders and employees on current diversity topics, leveraging programs to attract, retain and advance diverse talent, and continuing to evolve our leadership development curriculum and training for employees and advisors. In 2021, we added resources to support our strategy, including adding new positions on the diversity, equity and inclusion team, developing business unit specific programs, and enhancing our measurement and diagnostic capabilities. Our focus on fostering a diverse and inclusive culture is also reflected in the policies and practices that promote a safe, inclusive and respectful workplace. Our 13 business resource networks engage more than 9,000 participants globally each year to promote cultural awareness and community involvement while providing employees and advisors with wellness and career development resources.

Ameriprise was well prepared to manage through the unexpected COVID-19 pandemic and its associated impacts because of the strategic investments and actions we have taken over many years. From the start and throughout this extended period of multiple variants, our priority has remained on serving our clients, as well as the hubhealth and safety of our employees. As we continue to navigate this challenging environment, our balance sheet strength, technology platform. In addition,infrastructure and risk management foundation remain key to our success.

Virtually all aspects of our business, including the activities of the parent company and our subsidiaries, are subject to various federal, state, local and foreign laws and regulations. These laws and regulations provide broad regulatory, administrative and enforcement powers to supervisory agencies and other bodies, including U.S. federal and state regulatory and law enforcement agencies, foreign government agencies or regulatory bodies and U.S. and foreign securities exchanges. The costs of complying with such laws and regulations can beare significant, and the consequences for the failure to comply may include civil or criminal charges, fines, censure, the suspension of individual employees, restrictions on or prohibitions from engaging in certain lines of business (or in certain states or countries), revocation of certain registrations and reputational damage. We have made and expect to continue to make significant investments in our compliance and supervision processes, enhancing policies, procedures and oversight to monitor our compliance with the numerous legal and regulatory requirements applicable to our business.

TheWe operate in a highly scrutinized regulatory environment in which we operateand it remains subject to change and heightened regulatory scrutiny.change. Regulatory developments, both in and outside of the U.S., have resulted or are expected to result in greater regulatory oversight and internal compliance obligations for firms across the financial services industry. In addition, we continue to see enhanced legislative and regulatory interest regarding retirement investing and fiduciary initiatives, as well as environmental, social and governance (“ESG”), cybersecurity, responsible information and data use, financial crime and privacy matters, and we will continue to closely review and monitor any legislative or regulatory proposals and changes. States such as California within the newly effective California Consumer Privacy Act,U.S. and jurisdictions outside the U.S. continue to add new complexity to the patchwork of laws already in existence relating to privacy and cybersecurity and we are expecting similar new laws this year in multiple states.states in the U.S. The same is truecomplexity resulting from multiple standards exists for retirement investing where individual states and federal regulators continue to propose or enact rules that create more complexity in terms of a multitude of standards in place.their own rules. These legal and regulatory changes have impacted and may in the future impact how we are regulated and how we operate and govern our businesses.

Certain of our subsidiaries are registered with the SECU.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) as broker-dealers under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Exchange Act”) and with certain states, the District of Columbia and other U.S. territories. Our broker-dealer subsidiaries are also members of self-regulatory organizations, including FINRA, and are subject to the regulations of these organizations. The SEC and FINRA have stringent rules with respect to the net capital requirements (which includes rules around customer protection) and the marketing and trading activities of broker-dealers. Our broker-dealer subsidiaries, as well as our financial advisors and other personnel, must obtain all required state and FINRA licenses and registrations to engage in the securities business and take certain steps to maintain such registrations in good standing. SEC regulations also impose notice requirements and capital limitations on the payment of dividends by a broker-dealer to a parent.

Our financial advisors are representatives of a dual registrant, meaning it is registered both as an investment adviser under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (“Advisers Act”) and as a broker-dealer. Our advisors are subject to various regulations that impact how they operate their practices, including those related to supervision, sales methods, trading practices, record-keeping and financial reporting. In addition, because our independent contractor advisor platform is structured as a franchise system, we are also subject to Federal Trade Commission and state franchise requirements. As noted earlier, we continue to see enhanced legislative and regulatory interest regarding retirement investing and financial advisors, including proposed rules, regulatory priorities or general discussions around transparency and disclosure in advisor compensation and recruiting, identifying and managing conflicts of interest and enhanced data collection.

In June 2019 the SEC adopted a package of rulemakings and interpretations related to the provision of advice by broker-dealers and investment advisers, includingThe SEC’s Regulation Best Interest and the Client Relationship Summary (Form CRS)standard of care became effective June 30, 2020. Among other things, Regulation Best Interest requires a broker-dealer to act in the best interest of a retail customer when making a recommendation to that customer of any securities transaction or investment strategy involving securities. The regulation entails heightened standards for broker-dealers, and we anticipate incurring additional costs in order to review and modify our policies and procedures, as well as associated supervisory and compliance controls2020 and the provisionSEC continues to issue various statements and other pieces of Form CRS to clients.guidance on complying with the regulation. Furthermore, several states have either issued their own best interest or fiduciary rules or are considering doing so and those rules may be limited to certain types of products (e.g. insurance and annuities, financial planning, etc.) or may broadly cover all recommendations made by financial advisors. The DOL has included onfinalized its regulatory agenda fiduciary rulemaking regardingvoluntary exemption for providing investment advice to retirement account clients and has reinstated prior guidance for determining who hold assets in IRAs and certain employer-sponsored retirement plan accounts. Theis an investment advice fiduciary under pension regulations. While not a regulator, the Certified Financial Planner Board has updated its professional standards of conduct to includeincludes a fiduciary standard that will applyapplies to financial advisors who hold a Certified Financial Planner designation. Currently, Ameriprise has approximately 4,100 financial advisors who hold a Certified Financial Planner designation. Considering the various fiduciary rules and regulations that have beencontinue to be proposed, finalized, and sometimes withdrawn or finalized,amended, we continue to exert significant efforts to evaluate and prepare to comply with each rule. Depending on the span and substance of any regulations and timing of their applicability, the scope of any implementation could impact the way we compensate our advisors, particularly with respect to the sale of commission-based products, the access that representatives of affiliated and unaffiliated product manufacturers could have to our advisors and clients, and the manner and degree to which we and our advisors could have selling and marketing costs reimbursed by product manufacturers. We have incurred infrastructure costs in anticipation of compliance with these new regulations, and ongoing costs will be driven by how these regulations evolve over the course of time.

Other agencies, exchanges and self-regulatory organizations of which certain of our broker-dealer subsidiaries are members, and subject to applicable rules and regulations of, include the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) and the National Futures Association (“NFA”). Effective in August 2014, AFS changed its registration with the CFTC from a Futures Commission Merchant to a Commodity Trading Advisor. In addition, certainCertain subsidiaries may also be registered as insurance agencies and may be subject to the regulations described in the following sections.

In the U.S., certain of our asset management subsidiaries are registered as investment advisers under the Advisers Act and are subject to regulation by the SEC. The Advisers Act imposes numerous obligations on registered investment advisers, including fiduciary duties, disclosure obligations and record-keeping, and operational and marketing restrictions. Our registered investment advisers may also be subject to certain obligations of the Investment Company Act based on their status as investment advisers to U.S. registered investment companies that we, or third parties, sponsor. As noted earlier, we continue to see enhanced legislative and regulatory interest regarding financial services in the U.S. through rules, regulatory priorities or general discussion. This trend is especially true globally where regulators remain active, including in Europe. Any future regulation could potentially require new approaches which increase our regulatory burdens and costs.

In connection with rules adopted by the CFTC,addition, certain of our asset management subsidiaries are registered with the CFTC as a commodity trading advisor and commodity pool operator and are also members of the NFA. These rules adopted by the CFTC eliminated or limited previously available exemptions and exclusions from many CFTC requirements, and imposeIn this regard, we are subject to additional registration and reporting requirements for operators ofwith respect to certain registered investment companies and certain other pooled vehicles that use or trade in futures, swaps and other derivatives that are subject to CFTC regulation.

In addition, following Brexit the trade and cooperation agreement between the U.K. and EU does not include cross-border financial services. As a result, our U.K. asset management business is no longer able to market its services into the EU the UKon a passporting basis and others will need to negotiate the terms of multiple new relationships, which will take some time. The full impact of Brexit and its related consequences remain uncertain, includingmust now comply with respect to ongoing negotiations between the UK andlocal EU and new trade agreements with global trading partners.country requirements as a non-EU firm, which includes leveraging our various EU-based affiliated entities (such as those in Luxembourg and the Netherlands) to provide services and marketing to EU clients and investors. We continue to actively monitor the dynamic Brexit situation and political activity around Brexit. We are preparing for potential disruptions which may arise followingBrexit, including with respect to the endcontinued permissibility of the transitional period in 2021.

In addition to the above, certain of our asset management subsidiaries such as Columbia Threadneedle Investment’s UK and other European subsidiaries,branches are required to comply with both pan-European directives as issued by the European Commission and adopted by EU member states. Certain of these directives have impacted and will continue to impact our global asset management business. For example, Columbia Threadneedle Investments and certain of our other asset management subsidiaries are required to comply with the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (“MiFID II”), Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation (“MiFIR”), Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (“AIFMD”), European Market Infrastructure Regulation (“EMIR”) and the, Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities Directives (“UCITS”). and the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (“SFDR”) These requirements impact the way we manage assets and place, settle and report on trades for our clients, as well as market to clients and prospects. EMIR provides a framework for the regulation of over the counter and exchange-traded derivative markets. Similar to the developments in the U.S., we continue to see enhanced legislative and regulatory interest regarding financial services through international markets, including in the U.K. and EU where we have a substantial asset management business. These non-U.S.international rules, proposed rules, regulatory priorities or general discussions may impact us directly or indirectly, including as a regulated entity or as a service provider to, or a business receiving services from or engaging in transactions with, regulated entities. In addition to regulations noted in this section, within the EU and the UKU.K. we have been and will continue to address regulatory reforms or structural changes including but not limited to: enhanced regulatory focus and specific EU regulations on sustainable finance and environmental, social and governance (ESG);ESG; Senior Manager and Certification Regime;Regime U.K. only); Solvency II; Packaged Retail and Insurance-based Investment Products; Market Abuse Regulation; Transparency Directive II; Fourth and Fifth Money Laundering Directive; EU Benchmarks Regulation; Money Market Fund Regulation; Shareholder Rights Directive; Securitisation Regulation; and Criminal Finance Act.

Columbia Threadneedle companies or activities (including those we acquired as part of interest (specifically, inducements and a prohibition on free research), strengthening of best execution requirements and increased costs and charges disclosure, in relation to all services provided to clients. Firmsthe BMO Global Asset Management (EMEA) business) are also subject to an increase in the scope of transactions which must be reported to both the regulator and the market. In response to MiFID II, Columbia Threadneedle Investments has implemented wide ranging changes to systems, policies and operating procedures across its business, including: (i) increased transparency and reporting to our clients over costs impacting their investments, (ii) publishing detailed information on a near real-time basis for some trades, and reporting all transactions to the regulator the next business day, (iii) strengthening rules on

Ameriprise Certificate Company is regulated as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. As a registered investment company, Ameriprise Certificate Company must observe certain governance, disclosure, record-keeping, operational and

marketing requirements. Ameriprise Certificate Company pays dividends to the parent company and is subject to capital requirements under applicable law and understandings with the SEC and the Minnesota Department of Commerce (Banking Division).

ATCAmeriprise Trust Company is primarily regulated by the Minnesota Department of Commerce (Banking Division) and is subject to capital adequacy requirements under Minnesota law. It is prohibited from accepting deposits or making personal or commercial loans. As a provider of products and services to tax-qualified retirement plans and IRAs, certain aspects of our business, including the activities of our trust company, fall within the compliance oversight of the DOL and the Department of Treasury, particularly regarding the enforcement of ERISA, and the tax reporting requirements applicable to such accounts. ATC,Ameriprise Trust Company, as well as our investment adviser subsidiaries, may be subject to ERISA, and the regulations thereunder, insofar as they act as a “fiduciary” under ERISA with respect to certain ERISA clients.

Our insurance subsidiaries are subject to supervision and regulation by states and other territories where they are domiciled or otherwise licensed to do business. These regulations impact our Retirement & Protection Solutions segment and our closed-blocks included in Corporate & Other segment. The primary purpose of this regulation and supervision is to protect the interests of contractholderscontract holders and policyholders. In general, state insurance laws and regulations govern standards of solvency, capital requirements, the licensing of insurers and their agents, premium rates, policy forms, the nature of and limitations on investments, periodic reporting requirements and other matters. In addition, state regulators conduct periodic examinations into insurer market conduct and compliance with insurance and securities laws. The Minnesota Department of Commerce, and the New York State Department of Financial Services (the “Domiciliary Regulators”) regulate certain of the RiverSource Life companies. In addition to being regulated by their Domiciliary Regulators, our RiverSource Life companies are regulated by each of the insurance regulators in the states where each is authorized to transact business. Financial regulation of our RiverSource Life companies is extensive, and their financial transactions (such as intercompany dividends and investment activity) may be subject to pre-approval and/or continuing evaluation by the Domiciliary Regulators.

All states require participation in insurance guaranty associations, which assess fees (subject to statutory limits) to insurance companies in order to fund claims of policyholders and contractholderscontract holders of insolvent insurance companies subject to statutory limits.companies. These assessments are generally based on a member insurer’s proportionate share of all premiums written by member insurers in the state during a specified period prior to an insurer’s insolvency. See Note 26 to our Consolidated Financial Statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information regarding guaranty association assessments.

The 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd-Frank Act”) created the Federal Insurance Office (“FIO”) within the U.S. Department of Treasury. The FIOTreasury does not have substantive regulatory responsibilities, though it is tasked with monitoring the insurance industry and the effectiveness of its regulatory framework in addition to providing periodic reports to the President and Congress. We monitor the FIO’s activity to identify and assess emerging regulatory priorities with potential application to our business.

Each of our insurance subsidiaries is subject to risk-based capital (“RBC”) requirements designed to assess the adequacy of an insurance company’s total adjusted capital in relation to its investment, insurance and other risks. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (“NAIC”) has established RBC standards that all state insurance departments have adopted. The RBC requirements are used by the NAIC and state insurance regulators to identify companies that merit regulatory actions designed to protect policyholders. The NAIC RBC report is completed as of December 31 and filed annually, along with the statutory financial statements.