Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC Independent Advisor BusinessFranchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC Independent Advisor Business franchise requires a total initial investment of $10K – $138K, including a $2K franchise fee. Per the 2026 FDD, average unit revenue was $3.1M[2]. Verdict grade: A. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified June 18, 2026 · figures per the 2026 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $10K – $138K
- 0th pct Financial Ser…
- Avg gross sales
- $3.1M
- 25th pct Financial Ser…
- Royalty
- N/A
- Units
- 5,462
- 65th pct Financial Ser…
- SBA default
- N/A
Quick verdict · Financial Services · color = vs category peers
Green = >15% above Financial Services avg · No shading = within ±15% · Red = >15% below avg · Source: FDD filings + SBA 7(a)
Data from public FDD filings and SBA records. Not financial advice. Methodology
Each dollar invested generates 41.5x in gross revenue, well above the typical 1.5-2.5x range.
Franchising since 1999. Systems this mature have refined operations and brand recognition.
Franchised units fell from 4003 to 3738 over 3 years. Investigate why operators are leaving.
10 legal cases disclosed in the FDD. Read Item 3 before signing.
Bottom line
- Total investment $10K – $138K including a $2K franchise fee.
- Average unit revenue of $3.1M/year (median $1.8M).
- Verdict A (Top Quintile) with a risk score of 5/100.
- 10 litigation matters disclosed in Item 3, higher than typical. Review the summary for patterns (franchisor-initiated vs. franchisee-initiated).
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
- Legal entity
- Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC
- Parent company
- Ameriprise Financial, Inc.
- Incorporated in
- DE
- HQ
- 200 Ameriprise Financial Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55474
- Auditor
- PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $7.1B
- vs $8.4B prior year
Independent franchisee associations
- Franchise Advisory Council (FAC)
Franchisee-led councils or alliances disclosed in Item 20. Indicates operator voice.
Overview
About
Franchisees operate as independent financial advisors under the Ameriprise brand, providing investment management, retirement planning, and financial advisory services to retail clients. Day-to-day activities include client prospecting, portfolio management, compliance with regulatory requirements, and generating assets under management (AUM) that determine royalty payments to the franchisor.
- CEO
- James M. Cracchiolo
- Headquarters
- MN
- Founded
- 1971
- FDD year
- 2026
- States available
- 51
FDD Item 7 · 2026 filing · 23 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Fee (including initial orientation program)not refundable | $2K | $2K | |
| Additional Funds - 3 monthsnot refundable | $0 | $3K | |
| Association Feenot refundable | $290 | $290 | |
| Business Authorizations and Licensesnot refundable | $500 | $3K | |
| Computer Hardware | $1K | $2K | |
| Computer Software Installation Servicenot refundable | $200 | $200 | |
| Errors and Omissions Feenot refundable | $42 | $208 | |
| Internet Service, Mobile Communication Devices and Services, Phone Service, Printers and Scanners | $2K | $21K | |
| Network Equipmentnot refundable | $1K | $8K | |
| Network Monitoringnot refundable | $25 | $25 | |
| Office Aesthetics and Furnishingsnot refundable | $0 | $50K | |
| Office Cablingnot refundable | $500 | $6K | |
| Office Lease | $0 | $3K | |
| Optional Training Programsnot refundable | $0 | $10K | |
| Other Software Fees and Licensesnot refundable | $20 | $200 | |
| Security Deposits | $0 | $9K | |
| Signagenot refundable | $60 | $9K | |
| Software Licenses and Fees for Staffnot refundable | $135 | $550 | |
| Start-up Suppliesnot refundable | $100 | $100 | |
| Supervisionnot refundable | $258 | $3K | |
| Total initial investment | $9K | $135K |
Line items extracted from FDD Item 7. Ranges reflect the franchisor's stated low and high per line. Total is the sum of line-item lows / highs — actual costs may fall outside this range depending on market and build-out scope.
Single-unit · estimated
Returns at a glance
Indicative numbers using FDD Item 7 / Item 19 inputs and category-benchmarked cost ratios. Full single-unit, 25-unit portfolio, and LBO models (with every input editable to stress-test your own scenario) live on the financials page.
Store EBITDA · annual
$491K
16.0% margin
Unlevered ROIC
626%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
2 mo
cash-on-cash, unlevered
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $10K – $138K
- Better than avg vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $0 – $9K
- Better than avg vs category
- Franchise fee
- $2K – $2K
- Better than avg vs category
- Royalty
- Franchisor retains 9% to 28% of GDC
- Ad fund
- 1.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 10.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Marketing / ad fund | 1.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $595 |
| Training fee | $5K |
| Transfer fee | $800 |
| Total fee load | 10.0% of rev |
Financial Performance
- Avg gross sales
- $3.1M
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $1.8M
- Item 19 type
- Gross Dealer Concession and Gross Income
- Sample size
- 3751 units
- vs category median 97 · large
- Range (low → high)
- $0→$99.2M
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Reporting year
- 2025
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Transparency
- 4 / 5
- vs category median 0 / 5 · above
Compared against 58 Financial Services brands
Revenue is 41.5x the investment midpoint. At typical franchise margins, this suggests a payback under 3 years.
vs Financial Services averages
How Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC Independent Advisor Business Compares
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 5,462
- Opened
- 52
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 133
- Turnover rate
- 2.4%
- Company-owned
- 1,724
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 68%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (yr3)
- -3.0%
- Net unit change last year
- 3-yr CAGR
- -6.6%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Opened (3yr)
- 53
- Closed (3yr)
- 0
- Terminated (3yr)
- 147
- Non-renewed (3yr)
- 3
- Transfers (3yr)
- 521
- Reacquired (3yr)
- 0
- Franchisor bought back
- Transfer rate
- 9.3%
- Owners selling to other franchisees
- Termination rate
- 2.7%
- Franchisor-initiated terminations
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 51 states with active franchisees
The Territory Map
Derived from franchisee contact records. Shows states with at least one current operator. Not where the franchisor is registered to sell new units (that data is re-extracting in a future refresh).
States derived from franchisee contact records (FDD Item 20). Shows states with at least one current operator on file. Full state registration data (Item 12) will appear on a future FDD refresh.
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) and 504 loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
- Total loans
- 574
- Loan volume
- N/A
- Amount data pending
- Median loan
- N/A
- Charge-off rate
- N/A
Historical SBA 7(a) lending data, not predictive of future performance. How SBA charge-off rates are calculated
- Repayment rate (PIF)
- N/A
- 5-yr charge-off
- N/A
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 0
- Defaults
- 0
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Ameriprise's declining unit count, opaque royalty structure, extensive regulatory/legal troubles, withheld profitability data, and unprotected territories create elevated risk of franchisee underperformance and franchisor vulnerability.
Litigation (Item 3)
5 case reference(s): 1 pending, 0 settled.
Largest disclosed settlement: $6
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: No
- Must buy proprietary products: No
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
Score breakdown · what drove the 5 / 100 rating
- 01MINORDeclining unit count (-3.0% YoY) signals shrinking franchisee base and potential market saturation or dissatisfaction
- 02MINORExtremely wide royalty range (9-28% of GDC) lacks transparency; unclear what determines placement and actual franchisee take-home
- 03HIGHSix active litigation matters including class action, FINRA arbitration, and three regulatory settlements indicate systemic compliance failures in supervision and advertising
- 04MEDNo average net income disclosed despite $3.07M average revenue — suggests marginal profitability or franchisor unwilling to disclose poor performer data
- 05MINORUnprotected territory creates direct competition risk from other franchisees and company-employed advisors
- 06MINORLow franchise fee ($1,500) and high investment range suggests upfront capital may be understated or variable costs are substantial
- 07MINORThree-year term is short; renewal risk and franchisor control leverage are high
- 08MINORRecent SEC/FINRA settlements indicate franchisor's own regulatory compliance deficiencies that cascade to franchisees
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
| Initial term | 3 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 3 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 1 |
| Territory type | non_exclusive |
| Protected territory | No |
| Online sales rightsℹ | Granted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Not allowed |
| Owner-operator | Required |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 1 year |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| Termination notice | 14 days |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | Delaware |
| Litigation count | 10 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
5 case reference(s): 1 pending, 0 settled.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 10 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 0 hrs
- Training location
- On-site and off-site
- Franchisor financing
- Not offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- AdvisorCompass
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: AdvisorCompass
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
2,384 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC Independent Advisor Business · FDD (2026) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC Independent Advisor Business franchise?
The total investment to open a Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC Independent Advisor Business franchise ranges from $10K – $138K, with an initial franchise fee of $2K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC Independent Advisor Business franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC Independent Advisor Business FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $3.1M. The median is $1.8M. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC Independent Advisor Business's franchise failure rate?
SBA 7(a) loan charge-off data is not available for Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC Independent Advisor Business (fewer than 10 loans on file). Charge-off rates are one way to gauge franchise risk, but not all franchise loans go through the SBA program. We recommend reviewing turnover and closure data in the FDD and speaking with current franchisees.
How many Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC Independent Advisor Business franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC Independent Advisor Business has 5,462 total units in the United States, including 4,003 franchised units and 1,724 company-owned units. 52 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC Independent Advisor Business a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC Independent Advisor Business as a A-grade franchise with a risk score of 5 out of 100, based on our analysis of investment costs, revenue data, SBA loan performance, and growth trends. Our rating is based solely on publicly available FDD and government data; we recommend speaking with current franchisees before making any investment decision. This is not investment advice.
Data sourced from public FDD filings and SBA 7(a) FOIA records. Not financial advice.
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Data extracted from public FDD filings and SBA 7(a) loan disclosures (FOIA). This information is provided for research purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or investment advice. Verify all figures with the franchisor's current Franchise Disclosure Document before making any investment decision.