The Principal Financial Group Earns a Top Spot on the InformationWeek 500

Recognized as a top technology innovator for the 14th consecutive year

DES MOINES, Iowa--()--The Principal Financial Group® has once again been named to the InformationWeek 500, a prestigious list of the most innovative users of technology in the United States. This is the 14th consecutive year The Principal® has made the list, ranking 28th in 2011.

“Technology enabled innovation is critical to the global business of The Principal. Receiving top marks from InformationWeek speaks volumes of the great collaborative work that our IT and business professionals do every day to serve our customers and shareholders worldwide,” said Gary Scholten, senior vice president and chief information officer, The Principal.

Among the list of accomplishments that earned The Principal a spot on the 2011 list, were creative recovery execution in Chile, which allowed business to be operational the business day following one of the largest earthquakes in history; adaptive customer security enhancements; and streamlined new business processing in its insurance business. In addition, The Principal developed a one-of-a-kind system which provides a comprehensive set of automation, enabling pension clients to simply and seamlessly navigate complex regulatory and reporting requirements surrounding the Form 5500 filing.

“For 23 years, the InformationWeek 500 has chronicled and honored the most innovative users of business technology,” said InformationWeek Editor In Chief Rob Preston. “In this day and age, however, being innovative isn’t enough. Companies and their IT organizations need to innovate faster than ever before to stay a step or two ahead of their customers, partners, and competitors. This year’s ranking placed special emphasis on those high-octane business technology innovators.”

Additional details on the InformationWeek 500 can be found online at www.informationweek.com/iw500/.

For more news and insights from The Principal, connect with us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ThePrincipal.

About the Principal Financial Group
The Principal Financial Group® (The Principal ®)1 is a retirement and global asset management leader. The Principal offers businesses, individuals and institutional clients a wide range of financial products and services, including retirement, investment services and insurance through its diverse family of financial services companies. A member of the FORTUNE 500®, the Principal Financial Group has $335.8 billion in assets under management2 and serves some 16.5 million customers worldwide from offices in Asia, Australia, Europe, Latin America and the United States. Principal Financial Group, Inc. is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol PFG. For more information, visit www.principal.com.

About the InformationWeek 500
InformationWeek 500 identifies and honors the nation’s most innovative users of information technology with its annual 500 listing, now in its 23rd year, and also tracks the technology, strategies, investments and administrative practices of some of the best-known organizations in the country. The InformationWeek 500 rankings are unique among other corporate rankings as it spotlights the power of innovation in information technology, rather than simply identifying biggest IT spenders.

1 “The Principal Financial Group” and “The Principal” are registered service marks of Principal Financial Services, Inc., a member of the Principal Financial Group.
2 As of June 30, 2011.

Contacts

The Principal Financial Group
Joelle Kirchhoff, 515-246-4907
Kirchhoff.joelle@principal.com

Contacts

The Principal Financial Group
Joelle Kirchhoff, 515-246-4907
Kirchhoff.joelle@principal.com