American Express 2001 Annual Report Download - page 23

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consumer welfare.” We agree, and are confident that the decision will be upheld
on appeal, although that process will take some time. We look forward to con-
ducting our GNS business in the United States as we do in the rest of the world.
That said, our ability to achieve our long-term financial targets is not predicated
on U.S. banks being able to issue cards on our network.
GROWING RETAIL FINANCIAL SERVICES
As part of our long-term vision, we aim to make American Express as well
known and successful in financial services as we are in the card and travel busi-
nesses. Toward this goal, we are leveraging the strengths of our various financial
services businesses in order to expand our customer base and increase our share
of the market for global consumer financial services.
AEFA continues to be one of the premier financial planning companies in the
United States, providing an excellent foundation upon which to build our finan-
cial services business. Unlike many of our competitors, whose field forces
typically comprise brokers who focus on completing transactions, many of our
advisors are Certified Financial Planners who work closely with clients to
develop long-term financial strategies. As a result, AEFA has an outstanding
client retention rate of 94 percent. In fact, our redemption rates continue to
compare favorably with industry levels, even in the difficult environment of
2001. Not only do our clients stay with us, but they tend to take a long-term
view of investing.
Moving forward, AEFA’s strategy for growth is focused on two overriding strate-
gic initiatives: to strengthen our premier retail distribution network and to
develop world-class asset management capabilities. Within these strategic ini-
tiatives, we are focusing on a number of key areas:
❚CONTINUING TO ENHANCE THE PRODUCTIVITY OF ADVISORS:
Advisors can select from three ways of affiliating with American Express – as
AEFA employees, as American Express-branded independent contractors, or
as non-branded independent contractors affiliated with our Securities America
subsidiary. During 2001, we refined the “multiple platform” system in several
ways. As part of our platform restructuring and in light of market conditions,
we reduced our employee advisor population by 20 percent and we tightened
our hiring criteria so that we more effectively select those applicants with the
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