Principal makes money from insurance premiums, retirement-plan administration and recordkeeping fees, asset-management fees, annuities, group benefits, and protection products, serving both individual customers and institutional retirement-plan sponsors in the US and international markets. The company significantly scaled its retirement business by acquiring Wells Fargo's Institutional Retirement & Trust business for about $1.2 billion in 2019, adding major recordkeeping, trust, custody, and institutional advisory capacity. In 2026, Principal announced an agreement to acquire Beam Benefits, a digital-first employee-benefits platform for small businesses, expected to close in the second half of the year and aimed at strengthening its Specialty Benefits growth in the small- and mid-size employer market. Principal's revenue mix spans multiple related but distinct businesses -- retirement plan administration, life and specialty insurance, and asset management -- which diversifies it against being dependent on any single interest-rate or market cycle, though it also means the company competes against both dedicated retirement-plan providers and larger diversified insurers.