Created to help combat ongoing market volatility, the Principal Global Multi-Strategy Fund (PMSAX) recently marked its three-year anniversary as one of the largest funds in its peer group1, with nearly $2 billion in assets since inception. The fund invests in 13 different alternative strategies that seek to achieve long-term capital appreciation with an emphasis on total returns and relatively low volatility.

“Rather than simply aligning to an investment style, we’re focused on building strategies that address investors’ real-world needs,” said Marc Dummer, portfolio manager for Principal Funds. “As we travel across the country meeting with investors and advisors, we hear time and time again that investors are looking for strategies that can generate attractive risk-adjusted returns without the correlation to traditional stocks and bonds. We believe a diversified liquid alternatives strategy is a compelling solution.”

The Principal Global Multi-Strategy Fund is the third in the Principal Portfolio Construction StrategiesSM fund series, designed to provide outcome-oriented solutions for financial professionals and their clients. In total, the three funds have reached nearly $15 billion in assets in less than six years.

“In our view, investors face three key retirement risks: longevity, inflation and market volatility,” Dummer said. “We believe broadly diversified portfolios specifically constructed to address these concerns provide a better solution than traditional style box investing.”

In addition to the Principal Global Multi-Strategy Fund, other funds in the series include the $9.8 billion Principal Global Diversified Income Fund (PGBAX), launched December 15, 2008, which focuses on income generation. And launched March 16, 2010, the $3.1 billion Principal Diversified Real Asset Fund (PRDAX), seeks to help manage the impact of inflation on purchasing power.

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About Principal Funds
Principal Funds is a leading provider of mutual funds, with $118.4 billion in assets under management.2 Principal Funds brings expertise in global investment management, asset allocation and retirement leadership to financial professionals and investors. Including its target-risk and target-date offerings, Principal Funds is the fifth largest manager of lifecycle funds in the industry.3 The companies that make up Principal Funds are members of the Principal Financial Group®. For more information, visit www.principalfunds.com.

About the Principal Financial Group
The Principal Financial Group® (The Principal®)4 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 $513.5 billion in assets under management5 and serves some 19.5 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.

Carefully consider a fund’s objectives, risks, charges and expenses. Contact your financial professional or visit principalfunds.com for a prospectus, or summary prospectus if available, containing this and other information. Please read it carefully before investing.

The Principal Global Multi- Strategy Fund uses alternative strategies such as arbitrage, leverage, derivatives and shorting securities. Long/short investing does not guarantee lower risk associated with equity markets, capitalization, sector swings or other factors and may have higher turnover with additional tax consequences. Short selling risks include investment loss and added costs to cover short positions. International investing involves greater risks such as currency fluctuations, political/social instability and differing accounting standards. Use of alternative strategies may magnify risk. Securities such as bonds, equities, international and emerging market securities, and currencies are subject to risks associated with market and interest rate movements. The Fund is non-diversified and may be more susceptible to price volatility if the Fund does not meet its objective. Investors should not expect significant outperformance during market rallies. Additional risks are included in the Fund’s prospectus.

Investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal.

Asset allocation and diversification do not ensure a profit or protect against loss.

Principal Funds are distributed by Principal Funds Distributor, Inc.

1 According to Morningstar data.
2 As of Sept. 30, 2014. Includes all share classes of the Principal Funds, Inc. and Principal Variable Contracts Funds, Inc.
3 Strategic Insight Mutual Fund Lifecycle Report Q3 2014.
4 “The Principal Financial Group” and “The Principal” are registered service marks of Principal Financial Services, Inc., a member of the Principal Financial Group.
5 As of Sept. 30, 2014.