Good morning. Thank you for joining us today, and welcome to our 2016 Annual Meeting of Shareholders. I'm Jim Cracchiolo, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Ameriprise Financial. Tom Moore, our Corporate Secretary and Chief Governance Officer, is with me to help conduct the meeting. Let's begin, Tom.
Thank you, Jim. The Board of Directors has appointed the Carideo Group, Inc. as the Inspector of Elections. Mr. John Comer, the representative of the Coridio Group, has subscribed his oath of office and provided it to me. The Board of Directors has fixed February 29th, 2016, 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 common stock of the company as of the close of business on February 29th, 2016. This list has been prepared by Computershare Trust Company, National Association, the company's stock transfer agent, and registrar.
An affidavit of Mr. Philip Barone, an employee of Broadridge Financial Solutions, as to the distribution beginning on March 18th, 2016, to our shareholders of record as of February 29th, 2016, of a notice regarding the availability of proxy materials for the shareholder meeting to be held on April 27th, 2016, 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 2015 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 the meeting. Jim?
The Inspector of Elections has reported the existence of a quorum, we'll proceed with the business of this meeting, which I'll now call to order. First, I'm pleased to introduce my colleagues on the board of directors who are with us today. We could not be a great company without their committed and steady stewardship. I will ask each of the directors I'll name to stand, and I will ask you to hold your applause until all of them are standing. Dianne Neal Blixt, Amy DiGeso, Lon R. Greenberg, Siri S. Marshall, Jeffrey Noddle, H. Jay Sarles, Robert F. Sharpe Jr. Let's give them a round of applause. Next, we'll introduce the members of the executive leadership team of Ameriprise Financial. Can I ask the executive leadership team to please stand? The board and I rely on their leadership, experience, and commitment.
Please join me and the board in giving my colleagues an applause. Thank you. I'll now turn it back to Tom for the statement of order of business and the opening of the polls. It's all yours, 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 the meeting room. Accompanying the agenda are the meeting procedures approved by the board of directors. We ask that, in fairness to all shareholders attending the meeting, you please honor these rules. In a moment, I'll explain the three voting 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. 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. Thank you, Mr. Comer. 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 proposals is described in the company's proxy statement dated March 18th, 2016. The three proposals are presented at this meeting by the board of directors. The first proposal is the re-election of eight directors.
As we explain in our proxy statement, all of our director candidates are standing for re-election for a one-year term. Therefore, Mr. Cracchiolo and each of the other seven directors named in the proxy statement and whom Mr. Cracchiolo introduced to you early in the meeting are standing for re-election, each to serve until our 2017 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. You'll have, again, a chance to vote on this proposal at our 2017 annual meeting.
At the 2017 annual meeting, you will also have another opportunity to vote on how frequently you would like this proposal to be presented to shareholders. 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, 2016. Now, we will proceed with voting on each of the proposals I've just described. The votes required for each proposal to be approved are described in the chart provided on page four of our 2016 proxy statement. 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 returned 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 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 our proxy statement, the Audit Committee of the board of directors approved the engagement of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP for the 2016 fiscal year, subject to ratification by our shareholders.
Mr. Sarles, who is the current chairman of the board's Audit Committee, and the other members of the committee have asked me to express their sincere appreciation to Mr. Bateman of PricewaterhouseCoopers, who is here today representing his firm. Mr. Bateman has served as the engagement partner for the Ameriprise account since 2011. The rules that govern public accounting firms require him to rotate off as engagement partner after five years. The Audit Committee has relied on his professionalism, extensive knowledge, integrity, and dedication in helping to make the committee effective and extends its sincere thanks to him. The committee was involved in the selection of Mr. Bateman's successor as engagement partner, Ms. Butler, who is here today together with their partner, Ms. Small. I would now ask Mr. Bateman to please stand and be recognized for his service.
Before I declare the polls closed, are there any questions for Mr. Bateman? Thank you, Mr. Bateman. If there are any questions regarding the voting procedures or if any shareholder wishes to comment on or raise 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. This morning I'll discuss the progress in 2015. We'll report first quarter 2016 results after the market closes today. In 2015, Ameriprise generated solid financial results in a challenging operating and market environment. Increased equity market volatility in the second half of the year impacted results, and the U.S. interest rates also remain at all-time record lows. Ameriprise was able to mitigate much of this market pressure through solid expense management and strong capital management. We remained very focused on executing our strategy as we continue to invest in the business and return capital to shareholders. In a year when revenues were relatively flat, given the tougher markets, we grew our operating EPS, earnings per share, by 9%. In addition, we increased our operating Return on Equity by more than 100 basis points to a record 24.3%.
This is one of the highest returns in financial services and a clear differentiator for Ameriprise. Like other financial services stock, Ameriprise stock was affected by the uncertainty of the regulatory environment last year. Total shareholder return declined by 18%. For perspective, our long-term shareholders have been rewarded with one of the best returns in financial services, up more than 250% since our spin-off. 2015 marked a milestone in our proud 120-year history. It was the 10th year anniversary of Ameriprise Financial's debut as an independent public company. Our anniversary presents an opportunity to reflect on the significant progress that we've made in transforming ourselves into a leading financial services corporation. I'm confident that we'll be well-positioned to continue our progress. Today, I'll provide you with a broader perspective of the company and the key themes important to you, our shareholders.
First, we have a consistent strategy to serve more investors through Wealth Management and Asset Management. Second, Ameriprise benefits from the diversity of our business as well as our excellent financial foundation. Third, our people are the strength of the company. We care about our clients, doing what's right, and keeping the company strong. Let me cover a bit more on these three themes. First, our consistent strategy. We advise, manage, and protect assets and income for our clients. We serve clients' financial needs for a lifetime. This long-term approach is part of our heritage and how we manage the company. We work every day to earn and reinforce our clients' trust. Over the past decade, our assets under management and administration have nearly doubled to more than $750 billion. Each of our businesses, advice and Wealth Management, Asset Management, annuities and protection, is strong.
It's this combination that allows us to deliver a compelling client and advising experience as well as generate strong, diversified shareholder returns. Key to our wealth management strategy is growing our retail client base and serving more mass affluent and affluent consumers. There is a significant need for financial advice, and the opportunity has never been greater. The number of consumers who want to make decisions while also working with a financial advisor continues to grow. Ameriprise is the leading financial planning company in the U.S., with more Certified Financial Planner professionals than any other firm. We have a legacy of putting clients' needs first and have been recognized as one of the most trusted investment firms in the industry. We're working to provide comprehensive advice to more Americans.
Our unique Confident Retirement approach simplifies the challenges of preparing for retirement and makes it easier for clients and advisors to take action. Last year, we launched Confident Retirement for Wealth Builders, which is focused on those who are in the accumulation phase of their lives. We know that these consumers also value a financial planning relationship. A recent external study showed that the vast majority of baby boomers, Generation X, and millennials said they want to work with a personal advisor. The highlights of both the value that we can provide, both from a company perspective and an advisor perspective, are significant in this day and age, with the market volatility and the idea that the consumer has to continue to provide for their long-term needs. Our advisor force has the experience and expertise to serve the growing consumer opportunity. Our advisors are producing at record levels.
Client assets grew to $447 billion last year, with solid net inflows of more than $11 billion into fee-based accounts. Our investment advisory platform is one of the largest in the industry and a consistent growth driver. The Ameriprise brand is also strong and well-known. Last September, we unveiled the next evolution of our story. It's our Be Brilliant campaign. It illustrates the benefits of working with Ameriprise and how comprehensive financial planning and the right advisor can help people realize moments of brilliance and achieve their personal goals today and in retirement. We consistently invest in leading capabilities that help our advisors serve clients, grow their practices, and increase efficiency. Last year, we continued to enhance our digital experience, our web experience, making it even more comprehensive. In addition to earning high satisfaction and retention rates from our more tenured advisors, we consistently attract high-quality advisors to Ameriprise.
In fact, nearly 1,000 advisors have joined us over the past three years, and we continue to build on this success. Complementing our advice business is our protection and annuity businesses. They are central to our wealth management strength. They're an important part of our Confident Retirement approach and help protect our clients' wealth as well as generate retirement income. We build high-quality protection annuity businesses with solutions that we stand behind for decades and are important to our strong client satisfaction. These businesses deliver appropriate returns and are differentiated from peers because of our focused distribution, asset gathering contributions, risk management, and product features. Let's move now to our asset management business, where we've led an ongoing transformation through steady investment and acquisitions. A decade ago, we were a regional business.
Today, we are a top 30 global asset manager with more than $450 billion of assets under management, broad equity, fixed income, and multi-asset capabilities, and good retail and institutional distribution. Last year, we introduced the Columbia Threadneedle Investments brand to the marketplace, moving from separate organizations, Columbia and Threadneedle, to a global business with regional priorities and unique strengths. It begins with delivering consistent competitive investment results for clients. Our investment teams in the U.S., London, and Singapore generate strong performance. We ended the year with 116 four and five-star Morningstar-rated funds. We received great press recognition as the top performing U.K. fund group for the past decade. As we discussed, we continue to experience a level of outflows. Like other active managers, we were impacted by market volatility and flow pressure. Outflows were also driven by our previous acquisitions, as well as from a single large fund.
I should point out that a reasonable amount were in lower fee portfolios. We're working to add new sales in higher fee retail portfolios and institutional mandates and have a good foundation on which we can build. In the U.K., we're a top five provider in the retail space. The team is focused on expanding in other key markets, including Germany, Italy, and Spain. We have an excellent reputation and well-known. In addition to further building out our product line, we've added key talent to our European and U.K. equity teams. In Asia, we're expanding our presence in both the wholesale and the institutional markets and seeing good interest from local investors. It's important region for us, and we're positioning ourselves well to generate long-term flows. In the United States, we're executing a focused strategy and seeing improved results.
We've added key leadership talent in product marketing and distribution, complementing the teams we had in place. In a year where retail growth sales were down for the industry, we grew market share with many key intermediary clients. In third party institutional, we have a solid business with good underlying flows. While we experienced outflows from a large client, we have a good portfolio of equity and fixed income strategies, and we're adding to them. Our new business pipeline remains strong. That includes our solutions business, which we are building in addition to our strength in credit, active equities, and asset allocation. In asset management, we have strong and profitable business that we want to continue to invest in and grow as a driver for Ameriprise. I should also comment on the U.S. Department of Labor's Fiduciary Rule, which was released a few weeks ago.
In short, it's comprehensive and complex. Firms across the industry, including Ameriprise, are thoroughly reviewing it. Today, we already operate as a fiduciary under very high standards of care. Our value proposition is focused on long-term, comprehensive, advice-based relationships, and we're proud of how we serve our clients. We will take the time necessary to understand the new rule and get it right. We're taking a disciplined approach to our analysis and our implementation efforts, including our comprehensive plan to educate, train, and support our advisors through this transition. While this is a significant change for the industry, we believe that we are prepared and have the necessary resources to navigate the direct impacts that the rule will impose. Another important theme for Ameriprise is that our diversified business and excellent financial foundation are key differentiators.
They enable us to keep the company strong, to generate good shareholder returns, and to manage the challenging conditions as we experienced in the first quarter as we invest for growth. Ameriprise has a consistent record of investing in our businesses. Each year, we invest hundreds of millions of dollars to enhance our client advisor experience, strengthen our products and solutions, and build out our competitive positioning. Last year, we invested another $235 million in the business, and through our ongoing re-engineering program, we saved more than $100 million to improve efficiency. At the same time, we returned significant capital to shareholders through share repurchases and dividends and raised our quarterly dividend 16%. We returned 125% of our operating earnings to shareholders in 2015. This represents the fifth consecutive year that we returned more than 100% of operating earnings.
We've accomplished that while maintaining a strong excess capital position, ample liquidity, and a high-quality investment portfolio. At the same time, we steadily increased our operating Return on Equity to record levels, now above 24%. Our fee-based businesses are equity sensitive, and our spread-based businesses are affected by interest rates. That said, our market exposure is balanced with our fee-based businesses leading our growth. In fact, the contribution of these less capital demanding businesses to our 2015 pre-tax operating earnings reached 66%. We believe we can take that over 70% as we continue to grow. Ameriprise is also a company with strong values. Our people are engaged and energized about what we do for clients and the opportunity before us. We have a strong client-centric culture and excellent employee and advisor satisfaction. Our engagement results surpassed our financial peers on all dimensions in an industry survey.
Integrity, respect, leadership, and client-focused are our highest rated attributes. One of our core values is respect for individuals and communities where we live and work. In 2015, I'm pleased to report we set a new record in our annual giving campaign with donations and company matches of more than $9 million. We had a record participation in our two national days of service supporting Feeding America, contributing over 11 million meals. Ameriprise was also recognized for our support of members of our armed forces by two veteran organizations. I began my review of 2015 with the impacts of the markets that has clearly continued into 2016. January was particularly difficult in terms of overall equity market declines and high volatility. While conditions have improved, I expect volatility will remain given the market uncertainties and geopolitical issues around the world.
In addition, we'll be working to effectively address any necessary regulatory changes while continuing to focus on delivering to our constituents. As I reflect on 2015 and 10 years as a public company, Ameriprise is one of the strongest financial services firms in the business. I believe over time, we've established an excellent record for making thoughtful decisions that balance the interest of our clients, advisors, and shareholders, and we will continue to do that and have the same approach. As I look ahead, Ameriprise is stronger than ever before with a bedrock culture for doing what's right. There are immense need for advice, products, and services as wealth develops around the world. We'll continue to serve our clients' needs and look to serve many more consumers, small businesses, and institutions to satisfy their long-term goals. We'll continue to invest for growth in the right capabilities and in our talent.
I feel good about our positioning and our ability to continue to build for the future. Tom?
Mr. Chairman, the Inspector of Elections has provided me with a preliminary report showing that the management proposals presented at today's meeting, including the re-election of each Director standing for re-election to serve until the 2017 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, have each received the required number of votes to pass. 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 a hand, and we will bring a microphone to you. Please state your name and city of residence 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 table in the back of the room. He or she will 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?
Thanks, Tom. Are there any questions or comments? Yes.
My name is Steve Peterson. I live in Minneapolis. I'm a shareholder. I commend you for your fine management over the last year in the volatile market. I particularly appreciated your comments about our financial advisors. We cannot underestimate the strength of that core of financial advisors. I've met several of them, and they're quality people, and I appreciate that you added to their number by 1,000 in the last three years. Could you comment somewhat on what you look for, how you recruit your financial advisors, what you look for into their previous experience, and then on their longevity?
Thank you. I appreciate your comments regarding our advisors in the firm. What we do is, as we're looking to recruit advisors, we look for those advisors that want to embrace our value proposition around financial advice, that believe in the core culture that we have in the company and the focus on the clients and their interests. We look for those that would fit in appropriately so that we can continue to further enhance our reputation, our brand, and the way we do business in the marketplace. We've been able to attract some very good, productive advisors who want to leave their current place of business or feel like we would be more appropriate for them to continue to build for the future. We continue. We have a good pipeline of potential advisors wanting to join us.
We added more in the first quarter. We continue to look to add more people as we continue to see the environment change. Thank you. Yes.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My name is Mike Telford. I'm from near Des Moines, Iowa. I'm here on behalf of the nation's pig farmers and the National Pork Producers Council, which is a shareholder. I thought I'd give you the opportunity to maybe comment on social investment filters. First a comment. We want to thank the staff, the management, the board of directors of Ameriprise for your continued efforts in supporting our family pork producers through your strong investment and financing efforts, which you obviously do so very well. We want all the shareholders to know the nation's family pig farmers have made many improvements in animal care and production practices. Like Ameriprise, they are committed to continuous improvement. We hope that the company will always remain diligent in consideration of requirements on production practices and their impact on the supply chain and family farmers.
We certainly want to work with you and appreciate your efforts, there is much about our industry and information on production practices at porkcares.org. Ameriprise and our family producers are clearly committed to building stronger communities and improving our local, state, and national economy. Finally, I just want to ask everyone to help me in thanking the staff and management for your continued investment, finance efforts, and achievements. You really do deserve it. Thank you.
Thank you. Appreciate your comments. I could say that the investments themselves are governed by our mutual fund boards. Our Chief Investment Officer, Colin Moore, is here. Colin, I don't know if you want to make a statement or not.
important to us as we think about our investments.
Thank you. Any other questions or comments? Thank you. There being no further questions and no further business to consider, I hereby declare the meeting adjourned. On behalf of Ameriprise Financial Board of Directors, its officers, and employees, I want to thank you again for attending our annual meeting and for your support of your company. I look forward to seeing you next year. Thank you.