Ameriprise Financial Inc leans harder into AI plumbing and duration hedges

The biggest incremental dollars this quarter went into the infrastructure, not the hype, of digital demand. Semis and hardware feature prominently: Broadcom, Marvell, and TE Connectivity all see meaningful adds, indicating a preference for the toll collectors on data traffic and bandwidth.

• Netflix: A +45.9% add (about $547.3M more) suggests they see durable pricing power and engagement, even after an already large move in the stock.
• Broadcom: A +6.3% increase (about $480.7M) pushes this to a core AI and networking compounder, not a trade.
• Marvell Technology: Up +21.6% (around $366.3M) reflects a bet on hyperscale and custom silicon demand, despite cyclicality.
• iShares 7–10 Year Treasury (IEF): A +22.7% increase (about $326.6M) is a deliberate duration add, not a rounding error.
• TE Connectivity and Linde: Adds of roughly $313.2M and $249.6M, respectively, show interest in industrial and chemical enablers of electrification and manufacturing.

Beyond those, they quietly raise stakes in Eli Lilly, AbbVie, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Waste Management, and General Dynamics. That cluster says they want cash-flow-heavy, oligopolistic businesses around the core growth trade, creating a portfolio that can survive both a continued AI melt-up and a more volatile macro tape.

If the buys show where Ameriprise wants to be, the trims show how impatient they are with undifferentiated exposure. Index and broad-market ETFs are obvious funding sources: iShares Core S&P 500 (IVV), Vanguard S&P 500 (VOO), and SPDR S&P 500 (SPY) all see sizable cuts, as does QQQ. They are explicitly swapping generalized market exposure for name-specific conviction.

• IVV and VOO: Combined, roughly $1.88B comes out of these two S&P trackers, a clear de-emphasis on passive core.
• Visa: A -19.7% cut (~$818.1M) in a high-quality compounder looks more like profit-taking and risk trimming around elevated multiples than a fundamental call on global payments.
• Bloom Energy: A -20.1% reduction (~$780.0M) shows reduced appetite for high-vol, longer-duration clean tech after outsized gains.
• Western Digital: A -32.4% trim (~$746.0M) suggests they prefer other memory and connectivity plays with cleaner stories.
• Exxon Mobil and JPMorgan: Cuts of roughly $663.4M and $661.7M point to a selective pullback from over-earning energy and money-center banks.

They also ease back Microsoft, Alphabet, Tesla, Walmart, and Parker-Hannifin. Those are all big winners with strong gains versus cost, so the pattern looks like disciplined risk budgeting and a rotation out of crowded trades into what they see as the next leg of the cycle.

At the sector level, Ameriprise is doubling down where secular growth is most obvious and stepping back where earnings are more cyclical or policy-exposed. Technology edges higher to 46.51% from 45.91%, driven by adds in Broadcom, Marvell, TE Connectivity, Analog Devices, and incremental Apple, even as they trim Microsoft, Alphabet, Lam Research, Applied Materials, and Western Digital.

Consumer exposure nudges up slightly to 10.44% from 10.17%, but the mix is telling: more Netflix, TJX, and Home Depot; less Amazon, Walmart, and Procter & Gamble. They’re skewing toward scale players with either demonstrated ticket/pricing power or value-driven foot traffic rather than pure volume retail.

Finance slips to 8.98% from 9.36% as they trim JPMorgan, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Morgan Stanley, while nudging up Chubb and BNY Mellon. Energy comes down to 7.91% from 8.28% via cuts to Exxon, Chevron, and Bloom Energy, even as they add to ConocoPhillips and Valero. Health care rises to 7.04% from 6.59% with incremental Eli Lilly, AbbVie, Johnson & Johnson, and Merck, and they also lift smaller sleeves in basic materials (Linde) and utilities (Waste Management), rounding out the defensive barbell.

Taken together, this quarter’s moves describe a manager leaning into a world where AI and data traffic remain the dominant growth drivers, but where index-level returns are likely to be choppier. They’re reallocating from broad ETFs and mature compounders into semis, connectivity, and streaming scale plays that can still surprise on earnings even if the mega-caps simply grow into lofty expectations.

The growing sleeves in healthcare, chemicals, and waste management, plus the sizeable build in 7–10 year Treasuries, say they are not complacent about macro risk. A negative quarter for performance appears to have triggered more risk rebalancing than outright de-risking: the equity book still leans aggressively into tech, but with sturdier ballast underneath.

Going forward, expect Ameriprise to keep expressing its macro view through duration and sector tilts rather than dramatic cuts to its AI complex. If volatility picks up, they have fresh capacity in Treasuries and defensives to recycle back into growth. If the soft-landing narrative holds, the semis, connectivity, and streaming names they’ve been quietly building are positioned to outrun the benchmarks they are systematically selling.