Principal Financial Group 2009 Annual Report Download - page 5

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the principal financial group 3
Larry Zimpleman
Chairman, President and CEO
F O R B U S I N E S S E S – We offer a variety of solutions that
enabled businesses to continue providing quality benefits
even as their budgets tightened. Demonstrating our
commitment to the real and immediate needs growing
businesses faced in 2009, we:
n Unbundled some of our accumulation products/
services to provide more flexibility and cost control
n Made voluntary benefits more accessible
n Eliminated or significantly lowered rate increases
on some insurance offerings for our smaller
business clients
F O R I N D I V I D U A L S – Our worksite representatives
conducted more than 58,000 one-on-one meetings,
addressing individual concerns and helping customers
build and protect their long-term financial security.
And throughout 2009 we paid out $2.4 billion in
insurance-related claims, delivering on our promises
and making sure our customers were taken care of in
their times of need.
To all our constituents, we offered thought leadership
throughout the year, sharing our expertise on everything
from the economic outlook to asset management,
income protection and retirement income management.
Ready to deliver solid results in a difficult environment
The economic recession, especially job losses, impacted
our sales and premiums in 2009, but we’re proud of the
resilience our business has shown:
n Operating earnings for the year totaled $804 million,
down only 15 percent—a strong result during the
most difficult economic conditions in 75 years.
n Net income improved significantly, up 39 percent
from 2008 at $590 million.
n Assets under management (AUM) rebounded to
$285 billion from $247 billion in 2008. Reflecting
continued strong growth in our international
businesses, non-U.S. assets now make up 23 percent
of total AUM.
n And book value per share2 more than tripled from a
year ago to $23.05 as of Dec. 31, 2009.
1The Financial Advisor’s Role in Retirement, LIMRA, 2009
2Including accumulated other comprehensive income per share