[iaudit]

Tough question to answer without knowing the size of the assets to be managed ( I'm not asking to know as it is none of my business). I looked at Ameriprise's website and they don't have any investment products of their own, rather they have you invest in other financial institution's products. As they indicate on their website, they may be reimbursed by these financial institution's for having someone like you purchase their products, primarily mutual funds.

I did notice that they have no relationship with the Vanguard Group, which I use and have been known in the business to have some of the lowest management fees on their mutual funds.

I would advise you to read some articles on investing by searching the internet or looking at financial type magazines in the library (Money, Kiplinger's, SmartMoney, etc.). They usually offer some pretty sound advice on what to do with your money based on your age, lifestyle, assets, liabilities, risk tolerance, etc. They also usually have some advice on certain mutual funds. A lot of them used to have yearly comparisons of different funds, showing their returns, fees, etc. over certain periods of time.

Unless you have significant assets to be managed, I would not pay $500 to have someone pick a mutual fund for me. It is very easy to set up your own accounts, research past performance (which is not necessarily indicative of future performance) and pick your own mutual fund. Every type of investment has some degree of risk, it is just a matter of how much risk you are willing to take. Good Luck.