Ameriprise Financial saw a 14 per cent rise year-over-year in net operating revenues for its advice and wealth management division, to $946 million in the third quarter of 2010, largely due to strong advisor productivity and cost cutting, it said.

Pre-tax earnings for the unit stood at $88 million, compared to just $28 million for the same quarter a year ago, with pre-tax operating margins up 9.3 per cent, from 3.4 per cent in 2009. Advisor productivity rose 21 per cent from the past year, as low-producing employees left and the company began to pare down expenses.

Despite the positive results, however, the company noted that seasonality factors and general risk aversion by clients remain a drag on its performance. Revenue for the advice and wealth segment was down 2 per cent from the second quarter.

According to the firm's executive vice president and chief financial officer Walter Berman, while there was a noted improvement in client activity, figures were still below pre-crisis levels. Fortunately, strong sales in Ameriprise's new variable annuity product managed to deliver returns for the company, particularly at a time when average equity markets had dropped 4 per cent quarter-over-quarter.

"Clients are more confident now than they were a year ago, but doubts and concerns are persisting and, as a result, investing behavior continues to show a fairly high level of risk aversion," said James Cracchiolo, chairman and chief executive.

Total client assets for the segment were recorded at $313 billion for the period, up 9 per cent from the previous year.