Reports the Twin Cities Pioneer Press:

After nearly four months of research and thousands of options, American Express Financial Advisers on Wednesday plans to unveil a new corporate name to its employees and independent advisers.

Company officials are keeping the moniker close to the vest, but they say it won’t include the three letters “IDS,” which stand for Investors Diversified Services, the regionally famous name of American Express Financial’s predecessor company.

“I feel the name that we landed on really conveys the attributes that we will be advertising and talking about as we build the company,” Chief Marketing Officer Kim Sharan said Monday in an interview….

…The name search included American Express Financial’s 18,000 employees and financial advisers nationwide and the New York branding agency of Lippincott Mercer. Forty percent of employees and advisers participated in an online survey to determine what characteristics they most associated with the company, Sharan said.

“There has been such buzz about this place shortly after the spinoff was announced,” said David Kanihan, a spokesman for American Express Financial Advisors. “The name is something people can really latch onto.”

The company determined its name should reflect these characteristics: personal and approachable, authentic, pro-active, creative, knowledgeable and vast, Sharan said.

Amex won’t say what the new name is, but we can give you a peek. Between April 11-13 of this year they filed the following trademarks under “financial services”:

Archetype
Amplify
Amworth
Ameriprise
Luminous
Oakbridge
Sageborne
Sagemont
Riversource
Tiller

Filing multiple marks at the end of a naming process is a typical procedure, giving American Express multiple options during the global vetting process. So which of these names will be THE name?

We’re going to guess that it will be Ameriprise, though we hope it won’t be. Anyone else?

UPDATE 5/25: Don’t say we didn’t warn you. In a quick change of course, American Express went from being secretive about the new name yesterday to announcing it today. As predicted, they went with Ameriprise, because despite the spin, it was the easiest name to sell internally. How can we tell? From the Star Tribune:

“The name Ameriprise reflects both our history and our strengths as one of the leading financial services firms in the United States,” said Jim Cracchiolo, chairman and CEO of Financial Advisors said in a statement. “The name represents our American roots and the vastness of our nationwide network of over 10,500 financial advisors. It also embodies the enterprising culture our people bring to bear in helping provide our clients the peace of mind that comes with planning for a secure financial future.”

Compare the rationale above with the name attributes they were looking for, as announced yesterday:

The company determined its name should reflect these characteristics: personal and approachable, authentic, pro-active, creative, knowledgeable and vast, Sharan said.

Well, “vast” made the cut anyway. But in order to help push the pedestrian, internally-focused name in a bold and exciting direction, the logo team has devised a revolutionary visual concept for a financial service company. Hold onto your hats:

The Ameriprise Financial logo is based on a compass, designed to symbolize how the company helps its clients navigate toward their financial futures.

Just when you think you’ve seen it all before….