Ameriprise 2007 Annual Report Download - page 9

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Ameri
p
rise Financial 2007 Annual Re
p
ort
7
Our commitment to you
A
ll of us at Ameri
p
rise Financial understand that we work for our shareholders,
and we are constantly mindful of the im
p
erative to deliver shareholder value.
We are
d
iscip
l
ine
d
in our growt
h
an
d
f
ocuse
d
on returning capita
l
to you. In
2007 alone, we bought back 15.9 million shares of our common stock for
$
948
mi
ll
ion. Since we
b
ecame an in
d
epen
d
ent pu
bl
ic company, we
h
ave returne
d
more t
h
an 80 percent o
f
our a
d
juste
d
earnings to our s
h
are
h
o
ld
ers.
We a
l
so remain committe
d
to pru
d
ent management o
f
our resources,
p
articularly in view of the diffi cult market conditions prevailin
g
in earl
y
2008. Our investments for
g
rowth remain robust, and we will continue to
f
und them throu
g
h re-en
g
ineerin
g
and expense mana
g
ement while also
w
orkin
g
to contribute more of our expense savin
g
s directly to earnin
g
s.
Our
b
a
l
ance s
h
eet is strong, an
d
we wi
ll
remain conservative as we continue
t
o optimize t
h
e use o
f
our excess capita
l
. In s
h
ort, we are managin
g
A
meriprise Financia
l
f
or
l
ong-term success.
Thank you
To
g
ether, we at Ameriprise Financial have accomplished more in two and a
half years than many of us thou
g
ht possible, and I am both proud of and
deeply
g
rateful for the efforts of our people. The collaborative work of our
n
ational and international or
g
anization, as well as our committed and
t
a
l
ente
d
b
oar
d
o
f
d
irectors,
h
as a
ffi
rme
d
our current position o
f
strengt
h
.
T
h
e company to
d
ay is
f
ocuse
d
on growt
h
, wit
h
t
h
e sca
l
e an
d
capa
b
i
l
ities,
th
e energy an
d
ta
l
ent to rea
l
ize our great potentia
l
.
T
h
an
k
you
f
or your ongoing investment in our company. We wi
ll
continue
t
o
d
o a
ll
we can to rewar
d
y
our trust
.
Sincerely
James
M.
Cracchiolo
Ch
airman an
d
C
h
ie
f
Executive O
ffi
ce
r
Sincerel
y,