A publicly traded, Midwestern insurer's asset management arm is rebranding.

Kamal Bhatia Principal Asset Management President of Principal Funds, Senior Executive Director, Chief Operating Officer

On Monday, Dan Houston (president, chairman, and CEO of Principal Financial Group) and Kamal Bhatia (chief operating officer for Principal's asset management business, Principal Global Investors [profile]) confirmed that PGI's new DBA is Principal Asset Management. The Principal team also launched the business' new website, PrincipalAM.com.

As of September 30, the Principal AM team included 1,934 employees, including more than 1,000 investment professionals across 14 investment teams, company spokesperson Shawn Finlen confirms. Principal AM had $507.1 billion in AUM as of June 30.

Houston describes asset management as "a core growth driver for Principal, adding significant value to the company both financially and strategically."

"We're building and strengthening relationships with investors in over 80 markets, aligning our growth strategy to their needs and the evolving market opportunities to solidify a consistent global identity," Bhatia states. "Principal remains focused on identifying compelling opportunities by providing clear perspectives that are harnessed by the power of our diverse, local investment talent. A global asset management platform that brings deep, specialist capabilities will continue to actively unlock insights and opportunities for all our clients."

Meanwhile, the PGI name isn't disappearing entirely.

"Going forward, our investment unit will be doing business as Principal Asset Management," Finlen tells MFWire via email. "However, Principal Global Investors remains our legal entity and is trademarked/licensed around the world." 

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