Ameriprise CEO got 52% jump in pay in 2009
Ameriprise Financial Inc. Chairman and CEO James M. Cracchiolo saw his total compensation grow 52 percent in 2009 to $18.2 million, largely because he earned a cash incentive after receiving no such award the previous year.
Ameriprise Financial Inc. Chairman and CEO James M. Cracchiolo saw his total compensation grow 52 percent in 2009 to $18.2 million, largely because he earned a cash incentive after receiving no such award the previous year.
A Securities and Exchange Commission filing shows Cracchiolo’s cash incentive reflecting the financial services company’s performance last year was $5.7 million. Cracchiolo earned no cash incentive for 2008, after sharply falling financial markets sent stock values tumbling and eroded money-management fees at Ameriprise and its rivals.
Cracchiolo also received nearly $2.1 million under a now-discontinued long-term incentive plan, compared with a similar award of $1.4 million for 2008. The 2009 sum covers performance over the three-year period of 2007 to 2009.
Other components of Cracchiolo’s 2009 compensation were unchanged or slightly lower compared with 2008, according to the proxy filed by the Minneapolis-based company on March 2. His $850,000 base salary remained the same.
He also received a stock-option award that was valued at $9.1 million when it was granted, down from a corresponding award of nearly $9.2 million in 2008. Ameriprise stock traded at $21 per share when the 2009 award was granted. The shares have doubled in value since then.
Cracchiolo’s other compensation fell to $474,764 from $543,432 in the previous year. The 2009 total included $285,000 in matching contributions on stock deferrals.
Cracchiolo’s total 2009 compensation was $18.2 million, compared with nearly $12 million in 2008.
The AP’s executive pay calculation aims to isolate the value the company’s board placed on the CEO’s total compensation package. The figure includes salary, bonus, incentives, perks and the estimated value of stock options and awards.
The calculations don’t include changes in the present value of pension benefits, and they sometimes differ from the totals companies list in the summary compensation table of proxy statements filed with the SEC, which reflect the size of the accounting charge taken for the executives compensation in the previous fiscal year.
Ameriprise, which was spun off from American Express Co. in 2005, benefited from the market turnaround after stock prices hit bottom March 9, 2009. Its net income last year was $722 million, compared with a loss of $38 million in 2008. Revenue rose 13 percent to $7.8 million last year.
The company, whose services range from asset management to financial planning and annuities, agreed in September to acquire Columbia Management, Bank of America Corp.’s long-term asset management business, for up to $1.2 billion. Ameriprise plans to close the transaction this spring.
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