Ameriprise has large stake in CIT

The largest shareholder in troubled CIT Group Inc. is a group of mutual funds run by Ameriprise Financial Inc. of Minneapolis, which bought nearly all of its 11 percent stake in the past 10 months.

An Ameriprise subsidiary, RiverSource Investments, bought 12.7 million shares between March 31 and June 30, bringing its stake to 44.3 million, according to a regulatory filing last week.

Regulatory filings suggest that, compared with some other institutional investors, RiverSource actually bought on the low side. A RiverSource portfolio manager didn't return an e-mail message seeking comment.

The filings don't reflect buying and selling of CIT shares this month.