Principal Financial Group is an American global financial

investment management Investment management is the professional asset management of various securities, including shareholdings, bonds, and other assets, such as real estate, to meet specified investment goals for the benefit of investors. Investors may be instit ...

and

insurance Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge ...

company headquartered in

Des Moines Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines ...

Iowa Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...

, U.S.

Business operations

Four segments comprise the company: Retirement and Income Solutions, Principal Global Investors, Principal International, and U.S. Insurance Solutions. The company employs roughly 9,000 people in

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moine ...

, and owns and operates several buildings in the downtown area. The tallest, known as 801 Grand, is 45 stories tall (192m/630 ft), and houses many other companies in addition to Principal. As of March 2014, Principal employed 14,600 employees worldwide, with its Global Delivery center, Principal Global Services, in

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the second-most populous state in India and the second-most populous country subdi ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

. Principal also has a lobbyist registered in the Iowa Legislature since December 2016. He is designated to lobby the Executive Branch of the Government of Iowa. In 2019, Principal purchased Wells Fargo's institutional retirement and trust business (including 401k, pension, executive deferred compensation, employee stock ownership plans and asset advice business) for $1.2 billion. The deal was financed with cash and senior debt financing. In 2021, activist investor firm Elliott Investment Management took a stake in Principal, saying it will push for changes at the company. Talks with Elliott resulted in the February 2021 announcement of two new independent directors to its Board of Directors.

Eddie

Eddie was the lead and central character in the marketing campaign of the Principal Financial Group from 2005 to 2015. Eddie's television and print ads often depicted him facing challenges and using the Principal Edge logo to solve his financial, business, and everyday life problems. Eddie retired in 2015 in preparation for the company's new logo that debuted in 2016.

Naming rights

Principal owns the naming rights to

Principal Riverwalk Principal Riverwalk is a recreational park district along the banks of the Des Moines River in Des Moines, Iowa. After eight years of work, it was completed in January 2013. Funded by the city of Des Moines, Principal Financial and the Iowa stat ...

Principal Park Principal Park, formerly Sec Taylor Stadium, is a minor league baseball stadium in Des Moines, Iowa. It is the home field of the International League's Iowa Cubs. Features Principal Park is at the confluence of the Des Moines River and the Racc ...

and The

Principal Charity Classic The Principal Charity Classic is an annual PGA Tour Champions golf tournament in Des Moines, Iowa. It has been held at the William Langford-designed Wakonda Club since 2013. Founded in 2001 as the Allianz Championship, that name has been used by a ...

in Des Moines.

Management

On 20 August 2020, the company announced that Ken McCullum would become the new chief risk officer, following the retirement of Julia Lawler.

References

External links