Principal Financial Group, Inc.
Company History
Principal Financial History: Founding, Growth & Key Milestones
Founded 1879 in Des Moines, Iowa, United States
When was Principal Financial founded?
Principal Financial was founded in 1879 in Des Moines, Iowa, United States by Edward Temple, making it 147 years old.
- Founded
- 1879
- Founding place
- Des Moines, Iowa, United States
- Founders
- Edward Temple
- Headquarters today
- Des Moines, Iowa, United States
- Milestones documented
- 7 (1879–2026)
- Current CEO
- Deanna Strable
- Acquisitions
- 7
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1879 | Bankers Life Association founded |
| 2001 | Demutualization and IPO |
| 2013 | AFP Cuprum acquisition in Chile |
| 2019 | Wells Fargo Institutional Retirement & Trust deal |
| 2022 | Exit from retail fixed annuities and individual universal life |
| 2025 | Deanna Strable becomes CEO |
| 2026 | Beam Benefits acquisition completed |
- Where was Principal Financial founded?
- Principal Financial was founded in Des Moines, Iowa, United States in 1879.
- Who founded Principal Financial?
- Principal Financial was founded by Edward Temple.
- When did Principal Financial start?
- Principal Financial was founded in 1879.
- How old is Principal Financial?
- Principal Financial is 147 years old as of 2026.
Founding Story
Edward Temple, a banker from Chariton, Iowa, organized the Bankers Life Association in Des Moines in 1879 to give bankers and their employees affordable life insurance through an assessment-based mutual association. Bankers Life later became a mutual legal reserve insurer, adopted the Principal name in the 1980s, and moved into group pensions and retirement plans, the business that now defines the company.
Founders
Edward Temple
Edward Temple organized the Bankers Life Association in Des Moines in 1879 as an assessment-based mutual association offering low-cost life insurance to bankers and their employees. That association grew into Bankers Life Company and eventually Principal Financial Group, which still lists 1879 as its founding year. Edward Temple was born in 1867.
Key Milestones
Bankers Life Association founded
Edward Temple organizes the Bankers Life Association in Des Moines, Iowa, to provide affordable life insurance to bankers and their employees.
Source: principal.comDemutualization and IPO
Principal converts from a policyholder-owned mutual insurer to a public stock company and lists its shares in October 2001.
Source: principal.comAFP Cuprum acquisition in Chile
Principal acquires Chilean pension manager AFP Cuprum, expanding its Latin American retirement business.
Source: principal.comWells Fargo Institutional Retirement & Trust deal
Principal acquires Wells Fargo's Institutional Retirement & Trust business for about $1.2 billion, adding large-scale recordkeeping and trust operations.
Source: sec.govExit from retail fixed annuities and individual universal life
Following a 2021 strategic review, Principal reinsures in-force retail fixed annuity and universal life blocks and stops selling those capital-intensive products.
Source: sec.govDeanna Strable becomes CEO
Deanna Strable succeeds Dan Houston as president and CEO effective January 7, 2025, and later adds the board chair role.
Source: investors.principal.comBeam Benefits acquisition completed
Principal closes its acquisition of Beam Benefits, an employee benefits company serving more than 25,000 small businesses, on September 1, 2026.
Source: principal.comMajor Acquisitions
Wells Fargo Institutional Retirement & Trust business
2019Added large-scale retirement-plan recordkeeping, trust and custody operations.
Beam Benefits
2026Digital employee benefits company serving more than 25,000 small businesses, acquired to accelerate Specialty Benefits growth.
DentaNet
2026Dental network to expand provider network.
Ascensus ESOP Recordkeeping Operations
2024Expand ESOP business.
Wells Fargo Institutional Retirement & Trust Business
2019Bolstered U.S. retirement services.
Robustwealth
2018Digital robo-advisory capabilities.
AFP Cuprum S.A.
2012Established foothold in Latin American retirement markets.
Keep researching Principal Financial
Principal Financial Company History FAQ
When was Principal demutualized?
Principal completed its demutualization and initial public offering in October 2001, converting from a mutual insurer owned by policyholders to a public company.
How did Principal pioneer employer-sponsored retirement plans in the mid-20th century?
Beginning in the 1940s, Principal (then Bankers Life) was an early pioneer in developing group pension and annuity contracts for corporate employees, positioning the company to capitalize rapidly on the passage of the landmark ERISA legislation in 1974 and the rise of 401(k) plans in the 1980s.
How did Principal handle the 2008 Global Financial Crisis?
Principal navigated the 2008 crisis by proactively managing its commercial mortgage portfolio, raising capital, preserving strong statutory solvency ratios, and avoiding the high-risk toxic subprime derivatives that crippled other financial institutions.
How did Principal expand its presence across Latin America and Asia?
Beginning in the 1990s, Principal expanded globally through joint ventures with CIMB Group in Southeast Asia (forming Principal Asset Management in Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia) and major pension acquisitions in Chile and Mexico.
How has Principal modernized its workplace digital experience in recent years?
Principal launched an intuitive digital retirement and wellness ecosystem, providing plan participants with automated savings tools, personalized retirement readiness scoring, in-app financial coaching, and integrated health benefits administration.
What is Principal Financial Group's strategic vision for the future?
Principal's forward vision focuses on delivering smooth workplace financial security, expanding specialized alternative and real estate asset management for institutional clients, scaling lifetime guaranteed income solutions, and deploying AI-driven personalization for over 62 million global customers.
When and where was Principal Financial Group founded?
Principal Financial Group was founded in 1879 in Des Moines, Iowa, originally established by Edward Temple and colleagues as Bankers Life Association to provide affordable life insurance to bank workers.
When did Bankers Life become Principal Financial Group?
The company adopted the name Principal Mutual Life Insurance Company in 1985 to reflect its broadening portfolio beyond life insurance into pensions and 401(k) group retirement plans, before rebranding corporate entities as Principal Financial Group.
When did Principal Financial Group demutualize and go public?
Principal completed its demutualization and initial public offering (IPO) on the New York Stock Exchange in October 2001 under the ticker symbol PFG, transferring ownership from mutual policyholders to public equity shareholders.
How did Principal establish leadership in the US 401(k) market?
During the 1980s and 1990s, Principal aggressively targeted small-to-midsize businesses that were previously underserved by large Wall Street institutional trust banks, bundling investment management, recordkeeping, and fiduciary compliance into turnkey retirement plans.
What was the significance of the 2019 Wells Fargo retirement acquisition?
In 2019, Principal acquired Wells Fargo’s Institutional Retirement & Trust business for $1.2 billion, doubling the size of its US retirement business, adding over 4 million participants, and propelling Principal into top-tier leadership in total US 401(k) recordkeeping.
How did Principal survive the 2008 global financial crisis?
Under CEO Larry Zimpleman, Principal navigated severe liquidity strains by issuing preferred equity, fortifying its commercial real estate mortgage portfolio, suspending share buybacks, and de-risking its capital position without taking TARP bailout funds.
What role has Latin America played in Principal’s historical expansion?
Starting in the late 1990s, Principal expanded aggressively into emerging pension markets across Latin America, acquiring major mandatory pension administrators in Chile (Cuprum AFP) and Brazil (Claritas and Brasilprev joint venture relationships).
How did Principal pivot toward capital-light businesses in 2021–2022?
Following a strategic review with activist investor Elliott Management in 2021, Principal ceased writing US individual retail life insurance and annuities, reinsuring in-force legacy life blocks to focus capital on higher-return retirement recordkeeping, specialty benefits, and asset management.
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