Hey, good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today, and welcome to the Ameriprise Financial Annual Meeting of Shareholders. I'm Jim Cracchiolo, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. With me is Tom Moore, our Corporate Secretary and Chief Governance Officer, who will oversee the meeting today. Let's begin. Tom?
Thank you, Jim. The Board of Directors has appointed The Carideo Group as Inspector of Elections for this meeting. Mr. John Comers, the representative of The Carideo Group, has subscribed his oath of office and filed it with me. The Board of Directors has fixed February 28th, 2019, as the record date for determining shareholders entitled to notice of and to vote at this annual meeting. Mr. Chairman, I present the following documents. A certified list of the holders of the common stock of the company as of the close of business on February 28th, 2019. The list has been prepared by Broadridge Financial Solutions, the company stock transfer agent and registrar.
An affidavit of Mr. Daniel Guenier, an employee of Broadridge Financial Solutions, as to the distribution beginning on March 15th, 2019, to our shareholders of record as of February 28th, 2019, of a notice regarding the availability of proxy materials for the shareholder meeting to be held April 24th, 2019, or paper copies of the proxy materials. The notice informed our registered shareholders of the availability online of the notice of meeting, the proxy statement for this meeting, and the 2018 Annual Report to Shareholders. Shareholders were also informed how to obtain these proxy materials in paper form or by email at no charge. The notice disclosed the date, time, and location of this meeting, as well as the items to be voted on. Copies of the proxy materials have been posted on the internet and provided in paper form to those shareholders who requested them.
I will file these materials with the minutes of this meeting. Jim?
The Inspector of Elections has reported a quorum, we'll proceed with the meeting, which I now call to order. I'll begin by introducing my colleagues on the Board of Directors who are seeking re-election. Please remain standing as I introduce all of you. Dianne Neal Blixt, Amy DiGeso, who is unable to be with us in person today, Lon R. Greenberg, Jeffrey Noddle, Robert F. Sharpe Jr., W. Edward Walter, and Christopher J. Williams. Please help me recognize the significant contributions of our board with a round of applause. Next will be the Ameriprise Executive Leadership Team. Please stand. The board and I rely on your leadership, experience, and commitment to all of our stakeholders. Please join the board and me in a round of applause. Now I'll turn things back to Tom for the statement of order of business and the opening of the polls. Tom?
Thank you, Jim. To ensure the orderly conduct of the business of this meeting, the Board of Directors has adopted the order of business set forth in the agenda provided to each person as he or she entered. Accompanying the agenda are the meeting procedures approved by the Board of Directors. We ask that, in fairness to all shareholders attending this meeting, you please honor these rules. In a moment, I'll explain the three matters on the agenda for consideration during today's voting. The company has not received notice from any of its shareholders, as required under its bylaws, of any other matter to be considered at today's meeting, therefore, no other proposal or nomination may be properly introduced by a shareholder at this meeting. On behalf of the chairman, I now declare the polls open for voting at this annual meeting.
If you wish to vote at the meeting and have not yet done so, you may deliver your ballot to the Inspector of Elections. Inspector, please stand in order to identify yourself, please. Thank you, Mr. Comerford. If you need a ballot, the inspector can give you one. The polls will remain open until immediately after any discussion on today's proposals. To promote the efficient conduct of the meeting, the chairman has waived the formalities of requesting motions and seconds from the audience and has declared the order of business as stated in the agenda to be accepted by those present in the meeting room. Each of the following three proposals is described in the company's proxy statement dated March 15th, 2019, and is presented at this meeting by the Board of Directors.
The Board of Directors is recommending that shareholders vote for each director nominee listed in the proxy statement and for the second and third proposals. The first proposal is the election of eight directors. All of our director candidates are standing for re-election for a one-year term. Therefore, Mr. Cracchiolo and each of the other seven nominees named in the proxy statement and whom Mr. Cracchiolo introduced to you earlier in the meeting, are standing for election, each to serve until our 2020 annual meeting. The second proposal is a non-binding advisory vote to approve the compensation of the named executive officers. The named executive officers are those officers identified in the compensation disclosure tables included in the proxy statement for this meeting. This vote, commonly called a say on pay, is required by federal law for large public companies.
The third and final proposal seeks ratification of the Audit Committee's selection of PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP, as the company's independent auditors for the fiscal year ending December 31st, 2019. We will proceed with voting on each of the proposals I've described. The votes required for each proposal in order to be approved are described in the chart provided on page six of our 2019 proxy statement. We will close the polls immediately after any discussion on these proposals. If you wish to vote and have not yet done so, now is the time to return your proxy card or ballot to the inspector. If you previously returned a proxy card or voted by means of the Internet or telephone and do not wish to change your vote, you do not need to vote at this meeting.
If you have not yet turned in a proxy card or if you are a shareholder of record and you wish to vote your shares in a manner different than you have previously indicated, please raise your hand so that you can be given a ballot. We will provide an opportunity following the chairman's remarks for shareholders to raise questions not related to the proposals being voted on today. As we detail in the proxy statement, the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors approved the engagement of PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP, for the 2019 fiscal year, subject to ratification by our shareholders. I would now ask Ms. Butler of PricewaterhouseCoopers to please stand and be recognized. Before I declare the polls closed, are there any questions for Ms. Butler? Thank you, Ms. Butler.
If there are any questions regarding the voting procedures or if any shareholder wishes to comment on or raise any questions regarding the proposals being voted on, please raise your hand now. There being no further discussion of the proposals, we will now prepare to close the polls. Please return your ballots now if you have not already done so. On behalf of the chairman, I now declare the polls closed. While we're waiting for the inspector's voting report, I will turn it back to our chairman for his report on the state of the business. Jim?
Thanks, Tom. Let's begin by reminding you that we will not publicly announce our first quarter 2019 results until after the stock market closes today. My discussion this morning will center on 2018 and recent developments that we've disclosed publicly. Last year was another good year for Ameriprise. We remain one of the strongest financial services firms in the industry. We have over $820 billion in assets under management and administration, excellent capabilities, an experienced and dedicated team, and a consistent record of delivering results for our stakeholders, including you, our shareholders. In terms of the operating environment, 2018 was mixed. U.S. economic growth was positive, with markets and short-term interest rates rising in the first half of the year. As economic and geopolitical concerns became more evident, volatility spiked in the fourth quarter and equity markets pulled back.
Short-term market moves impact our business, and they can be significant. Our clients and investors count on us to maintain a longer-term perspective. That shows how we've always operated in a sense of looking at the long term, and we always manage in this rapidly evolving and competitive marketplace by sticking to our strategy. While there are headwinds in 2018, we remain focused on serving our clients and executing our strategy. Ameriprise delivered excellent business results. We achieved new highs in advisor productivity and record asset flows into fee-based investment advisory accounts. In terms of our 2018 financial results overall, on an adjusted operating basis, excluding the impact of the Tax Act a year ago, net revenues increased 5% to $12.7 billion. Earnings grew 11% to $2.1 billion.
Earnings per diluted share grew 18% to $14.45, and return on equity, excluding AOCI, increased significantly from 32.3% in 2017 up to 36.6%. Our return on equity is consistently one of the best in financial services. While we delivered good financial results and strong business performance in 2018, the one-year total shareholder return of our stock declined last year, largely because of market volatility late in the year. In fact, we were opportunistic and accelerated our share repurchases. So far this year, our stock has come back nicely. Our total shareholder return is up nearly 40%, outperforming the S&P 500 Financials, which is up about 16%. For those who have held our stock since our spinoff in 2005, Ameriprise remains one of the top-performing companies in financial services for total shareholder return and a differentiated track record for capital generation and return.
For you, our shareholders, here are some core themes about the business. The front end of Ameriprise is wealth management, and we are very well-positioned to seize a very large and growing opportunity in the marketplace. Our research has confirmed that investors are increasingly seeking personal advice, effective solutions, terrific service, and importantly, a firm that they can trust. We are at the right part of the growth opportunity around advice. Ameriprise is a diversified financial services firm, and we approach a growing share of this large market opportunity with our wealth management business leading the way. It's complemented by our asset management, insurance, and annuity solutions. In addition, we provide a wide range of products from many other manufacturers so we can comprehensively address clients' and advisors' complex needs.
Today, wealth management is the core growth driver of Ameriprise, generating more than 70% of the revenues of our diversified firm. Our target market are those investors between $100,000 and $5 million in investable assets who value advice relationships and have what we call a responsible mindset. They want to work with an advisor and a firm they trust. In fact, 70% of consumers in our target market prefer a comprehensive advice relationship, and this is up from 60% just two years ago. We built our business on lasting personal client relationships centered on advice. Our advisors work with clients over decades and spend the time to deeply understand their goals and what they're trying to achieve over their lifetime. Behind every advisor is the strength of Ameriprise. Our client relationships are built on trust and high-quality service.
I'm pleased to highlight our industry awards as well as the results of our client survey. Trust remains the most important element that our target market consumers look for in a financial services provider, and Ameriprise is number one in trust across the industry. Number one in consumer forgiveness, meaning if we made a mistake, people would forgive us. Number one in customer loyalty. In addition, for the past three years, Ameriprise has ranked among the top in likelihood to recommend the firm to friends and colleagues. We have excellent client satisfaction, 4.9 out of 5 stars. At Ameriprise, our brand awareness has also reached an all-time high. As you look at our business results in 2018, we generated a new high for net inflows into fee-based wrap accounts of $21 billion in 2018 alone.
Advisor productivity was at an all-time high, and it was one of the best years in terms of the quality and number of experienced recruits we brought to Ameriprise in our advisor ranks. Looking forward, we will continue to invest to further enhance our client experience and deliver it more consistently. This includes digitally enabling our advice and financial planning capabilities to make it even easier for our clients and advisors to work together to achieve their goals. Enhancing our client relationship management system that we'll be delivering later this year. Further developing our fee-based investment advisory platform, which is one of the largest in the industry. Training our advisors to use our newly integrated tools to serve more clients, deepen relationships, and with existing clients while they grow their practices. Each of these initiatives will help drive future growth.
I'm energized by the strong position we built and the opportunity before us as a leading wealth manager. Importantly, our asset management, insurance, and annuity businesses also make a meaningful contribution for clients and our diversified firm. In asset management, we're a large global player. We manage more than $430 billion for individuals and institutional clients across equities, fixed income, asset allocation, and multi-asset solutions, as well as real estate. As an active manager, we operate in a complex and rapidly changing marketplace and continue to evolve as the business evolves, and as passive products capture a majority of industry flows today. In addition to passive pressure, 2018 was particularly challenging, with high volatility and equity market declines in the fourth quarter, as well as the uncertainty of Brexit, all of which impacted our assets under management and increased outflows.
We are managing through this in a disciplined manner, serving client needs and maintaining competitive profitability. Our strategic priorities in asset management are to further strengthen our products and distribution and generate profitable inflows. At the same time, we've worked to offset revenue pressures by keeping expenses relatively flat for several years while dedicating investments to key long-term growth initiatives. This includes delivering consistent competitive investment performance to our clients, enhancing our data and analytical capabilities and our infrastructure, gaining greater share in the U.S. intermediary market, and expanding in Europe with a focus on Germany, Italy, and Spain, while continuing to navigate Brexit. With regard to Brexit, our team has been planning for it for some time. It's a top priority, and we feel very well prepared.
We previously established a limited fund range in Luxembourg, and during the year, we took an important step to expand our fund range on the continent and successfully completed a large client transfer of assets. Overall, Columbia Threadneedle benefits from the deep resources of Ameriprise, and we're managing a very challenging environment with a clear focus on our clients and shareholders. In addition to our broad asset management capabilities, our insurance and annuity businesses are important contributors to Ameriprise. We offer our insurance and annuity products under the RiverSource brand and focus distribution to Ameriprise clients to help address their retirement and income protection needs. Importantly, we have positioned the businesses to deliver good value with excellent risk management. Our books of business are performing well, and this is reflected in our record of generating appropriate competitive returns in this extended period of low interest rates.
Another very important theme is that we've been consistent in how we manage the business. This enables us to generate strong returns while driving a strategic shift in our business mix. Ameriprise is one of the stronger performing financial services providers with an excellent financial foundation and one of the highest returns on equity. Last year, 75% of our pre-tax adjusted operating earnings were driven by advice and wealth management and asset management, our lower capital, higher P/E businesses. This is up from 64% in 2014. Importantly, let me expand on recent strategic actions we've taken to continue this transition and for our overall business mix at Ameriprise continue to move in the capital light areas. We're increasing our capital flexibility in generating a differentiated level of return for you, our shareholders.
First, we're expanding the services we provide by converting our trust bank to a federal savings bank, a key initiative for us. We just received final regulatory approval and expect to launch the bank in the latter part of the second quarter. Second, we recently reinsured about 20% of our fixed annuity block to further strengthen our risk profile. Third, last month, we announced that after a strategic review, we are selling our auto and home insurance businesses to American Family Insurance. We feel very good about the sale in terms of the continued high level of service policy holders will receive, opportunities for the business to grow, as well as the path for our employees as part of American Family. Our capital position is a clear differentiator for Ameriprise.
The business generates significant free cash flow that we reinvest and return to you while ensuring our capital strength and flexibility. Last year alone, we returned over $2 billion between share repurchases and dividends, and we increased our quarterly dividend by 8%. In addition, we recently announced a new $2.5 billion share repurchase authorization. These actions are clear signs of our belief in the strength of Ameriprise and the shareholder value we can create in the years to come. Today, I've discussed our business results, our strategy, our capital strength, ultimately, our business is about serving people, and it takes a committed, caring team. I'm honored to lead Ameriprise, a company guided by its values, client focus, integrity, excellence, and respect. That respect is also for our communities. Ameriprise supports more than 7,500 nonprofit organizations.
Our partnership with Feeding America has provided 84 million meals since it began in 2009, and we have meaningful results from our annual giving campaign and days of service. In fact, more than 70% of our employees participate in our annual giving campaign, which is more than double the national average. Ameriprise is a great place for our clients to conduct business and also for our employees to apply their talents. Our employee engagement is excellent and consistently exceeds industry norms. We have been recognized as a best place to work nine times and a military-friendly employer for multiple years. Earlier, I talked about the importance of trust in financial services. Ensuring we operate consistent with our values and our clients' best interests is directly linked to earning their trust. In closing, I would leave you with this. 2019 is the 125th anniversary of our founding.
Very few U.S. publicly traded firms can make this claim. We've certainly evolved over that time, serving our clients, expanding into new markets and products while keeping the company strong. We've always kept the long-term focus and adapted as conditions change and balanced the needs of all of our stakeholders. I'm confident about the future and the next steps in our journey, and I'm energized to work with an excellent team to capture the many opportunities before us. Thank you. Tom?
Mr. Chairman, the Inspector of Elections has handed me a preliminary report showing that the management proposals presented at today's meeting, including the election of each of the eight director candidates standing for election to serve until the 2020 annual meeting, and the others have passed, except for the say on pay proposal. The chairman will now welcome any questions or comments from our shareholders. We ask that you please observe the meeting procedures in the agenda, including the time limit for questions. Please raise your hand and we'll bring a microphone to you. Please state your name and address and indicate whether you are a shareholder or a proxy for a shareholder. You may ask a question or offer a comment only if you are a shareholder or a proxy for a shareholder.
If you have a question or concern that is not relevant to the interest of all shareholders, please see one of the attendants at the back of the room. He or she would be happy to help you. With that, I'll turn it over to our chairman, who will open up the meeting for shareholder questions and comments.
Jim.
Thank you, Tom. Are there any questions or comments? Yes.
I don't think a meeting is complete without some participation from the attendees. We are benefited greatly by the enthusiasm and passion that you bring to your job. I have one question. What does it mean, advisor productivity? How is advisor productivity measured? Thank you.
Thank you for your comment. Your question is around advisor productivity and how it's measured. It looks at the revenue generated per advisor in their practice. As they serve their clients, it's the amount that they manage assets for clients. They process and handle transactions for clients, investment and protection, et cetera. It's the revenue that they generate in their practice on an annual basis. Any other questions or comments?
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My name is Mike Telford. I'm from near Des Moines, Iowa, and I'm here on behalf of the nation's pig farmers and the National Pork Producers Council, which is a shareholder. We want to thank the staff, management, and the board of directors of Ameriprise for your continued efforts in supporting agriculture and our family pork producers through your investments. With less than 2% of our nation's population engaged in agriculture, with most consumers three to four generations removed from farming, we want all the shareholders to know that family pig farmers, as well as other producers, take great care to ensure that pigs are raised responsibly and with great care to minimize the overall carbon footprint.
Through innovations in technology, the nation's pig farmers have implemented sustainable methods to minimize the environmental impact as identified through independent research at the University of Arkansas, which includes utilizing 78% less land and 41% less water today than 50 years ago. Sustainable agriculture holds great promise for alleviating a host of environmental issues, including nutrient management programs, social opportunities through safe employment, and support of our agroecological research. The nation's pig farmers have made many improvements in animal care, responsible use of animal health products, and in particular, antibiotics and other production practices. Like Ameriprise, they are committed to continuous improvement. We hope that Ameriprise will always remain diligent in consideration of requirements on production practices and their impact on the supply chain and ultimately family farmers. We certainly want to work with you, and we appreciate your efforts. There's much information about our industry at porkcares.org.
I hope that everybody will join me in thanking the staff and management at Ameriprise for your continued financial, banking, and finance efforts and achievements because you guys really do an outstanding job. Thank you.
Thank you for your comments. Any other questions or comments? Okay. There being no further questions or no further business to consider, I hereby declare the meeting adjourned. On behalf of Ameriprise Financial's board of directors and its officers and employees, thank you again for attending our annual meeting and for your support of your company. We look forward to seeing you again next year. Thank you.