Company Press Release

The Principal Financial Group Names Ralph Eucher Executive Vice President

DES MOINES, Iowa-- The Principal Financial Group® announces the promotion of Ralph Eucher to executive vice president effective on March 9, 2013. Eucher will continue in his role leading human resources and the development of the company’s global talent platform. Eucher also is responsible for oversight of corporate real estate and will continue to lead the major campus renovations currently underway.

“This promotion is a reflection of Ralph’s excellent leadership of the company’s human resources strategy and the creation of our global talent platform,” said Larry D. Zimpleman, chairman, president and CEO of The Principal®. “Ralph has extensive experience leading corporate real estate and, in the past, our mutual funds and commercial real estate operations.”

Eucher joined the company in the commercial real estate division of The Principal in 1994. He was named president and CEO of Principal Funds in 1999, senior vice president of the Principal Financial Group in 2002, and began overseeing human resources and corporate real estate in 2008. Prior to joining The Principal, Eucher was president for General Growth Companies.

Eucher received a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s degree in industrial relations from Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. He received his doctorate of jurisprudence degree from the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa. Eucher was a member of the Investment Company Institute’s Board of Governors. He also is a member of the Minnesota and Iowa Bar Associations.

About the Principal Financial Group

?The Principal Financial Group® (The Principal ®)1 is a global investment management leader offering retirement services, insurance solutions and asset management. The Principal offers businesses, individuals and institutional clients a wide range of financial products and services, including retirement, asset management and insurance through its diverse family of financial services companies. Founded in 1879 and a member of the FORTUNE 500®, the Principal Financial Group has $403.0 billion in assets under management2 and serves some 18.3 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.

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 Dec. 31, 2012