Ameriprise Financial, Inc.

Welcome to the second quarter 2026 earnings call. My name is Rebecca and I will be your operator for today's call. At this time, all participants are in a listen only mode. Later, we will conduct a question and answer session. During the question and answer session, if you have a question, please press star one on your touch tone phone. As a reminder, the conference is being recorded. I will now turn the call over to Stephanie Rabe. Stephanie, you may begin.

Welcome to Ameriprise Financial's second quarter earnings call. On the call with me today are Jim Cracchiolo, Chairman and CEO, and Walter Berman, Chief Financial Officer. Following their remarks, we'd be happy to take your questions. Turning to our earnings presentation materials that are available on our website, on slide 2 you will see a discussion of forward-looking statements. Specifically, during the call, you'll hear references to various non-GAAP financial measures, which we believe provide insight into our company's operations. Reconciliation of non-GAAP numbers to their respective GAAP numbers can be found in today's materials and on our website at ir.ameriprise.com. Some statements that we make on this call may be forward-looking, reflecting management's expectations about future events and overall operating plans and performance. These forward-looking statements speak only as of today's date and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. A sample list of factors and risks that could cause actual results to be materially different from forward-looking statements can be found in our second quarter 2026 earnings release, our 2025 annual report to shareholders, and our 2025 10-K report. We make no obligation to publicly update or revise these forward-looking statements. On slide three, you see our GAAP financial results at the top of the page for the second quarter. Below that you see our adjusted operating results, which management believes enhances the understanding of our business by reflecting the underlying performance of our core operations and facilitates a more meaningful trend analysis. Many of the comments that management makes on the call today will focus on adjusted operating results. And with that, I'll turn it over to Jim.

Good morning and thanks for joining our earnings call. Ameriprise delivered another great quarter thanks to the strength of our team and the firm, our complementary businesses, and the way we engage clients. We're performing well in a positive but dynamic market environment. That includes the impact of rates, inflation, and geopolitical volatility more broadly. And we're all seeing AI in the headlines a lot more these days. Markets move, rates change, and technology is always evolving. But the need for our trusted advice, strong solutions, and service is only increasing in a world that is getting more complex. And that's why I feel so good about the business. As you saw, our financial performance continues to be excellent. Revenues grew 13% to nearly $5 billion, driven by strong asset growth and client advisor engagement. And we're delivering that level of revenue with a nice mix of fee, transaction, and spread-based business. adjusted operating earnings were up 14% to a billion dollars. A continuation of our consistently strong performance as we maintain attractive margins and continue to invest in new product solutions, technology, and service. And EPS was up strongly, increasing 22% to $11.07. as we consistently demonstrate strong operating earnings growth and exceptional return to shareholders that is consistently differentiated across financial services. Ameriprise ROE is another powerful advantage. Our return on equity remains best in class at 55%, up from 51.5% a year ago.