Ameriprise Financial (AMP) says Don Froude, head of the Personal Advisors Group, will be leaving this post on March 30. He has been in the role since September 2008 and will work on advisor-focused initiatives going forward.
Separate filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission show that Froude has sold Ameriprise shares for a total of $13.6 million over the past two years. His salary and bonuses in 2013 were $4.5 million, making him the fourth-highest among the firm's executive leadership.
Bill Williams and Patrick O'Connell – who lead the independent and employee advisor channels, respectively – will lead these channels starting at the end of the month, according to a spokesperson. Both Williams and O'Connell have been with firm for 20 years or more.
"After speaking with company representatives, our initial reaction is that this announcement does not foreshadow negative developments in [advice and wealth management] A&WM but rather has been in the works for the past year," according to a recent UBS equity report.
Amerprise's advisor headcount stands at 9,672 as of Dec. 30. That's down slightly from 9,696 in Q3'14 and 9,716 in Q4'13. Retention in the employee channel — which has 2,096 advisors — was about 91% as of late 2014, while it is 95% in the franchisee channel — which includes 7,576 reps.
Prior to coming to the firm, Froude was head of intermediary distribution for Legg Mason and Columbia Management. He also worked for Alex. Brown and Prudential Bache as a branch manager, after getting into the business in 1980.
