Ameriprise Hints at How Life and Annuity Issuers Are Doing

Economic icebergs crashed against the life and annuity operations at Ameriprise Financial in the first quarter — but warm currents abound. The Minneapolis-based financial services company was the first major U.S. life and annuity issuer to post results for the quarter. CEO Jim Cracchiolo told securities analysts during a conference call streamed live online on Tuesday, that Ameriprise has no exposure to problem banks, and that the deposit base at its own bank is strong and stable. "Ameriprise had an excellent first quarter," Cracchiolo said. The company as a whole reported $417 million in net income for the quarter on $3.7 billion in revenue, compared with $825 million in net income on $3.6 billion in revenue for the first quarter of 2022. The Retirement & Protection Solutions segment — the part of the company that writes the annuity contracts, life insurance policies and disability insurance policies — reported $194 million in pretax adjusted operating earnings on $824 million in revenue, up from $175 million in operating earnings on $768 million for the first quarter of 2022, in spite of all of the recent economic drama. Cracchiolo and chief financial officer Walter Berman spent most of the conference call the company held to go over the results with securities analysts talking about the wealth management and asset management units. Berman noted, for example, that Ameriprise made money in the first quarter in spite of a 9% year-over-year drop in stock market performance, a 5% drop in bond market performance, and the effects of a decrease in the relative value of the euro and the U.K. pound on non-U.S. asset totals. For a look at five things Ameriprise and its executives said about the Retirement & Protection Solutions segment, and what those points might mean for the life and annuity sector as a whole, see the gallery above. Ameriprise headquarters in Minneapolis. (Photo: Ariana Lindquist/Bloomberg)