With the rising costs of health care, small to medium-sized business owners need new choice and flexibility to manage their benefit programs. Principal Financial Group® announces an agreement with Liazon’s Bright Choices® as the first private exchange access point for employer-sponsored group benefit plans.

“This creates great opportunity to expand relationships with employers looking for accessible, flexible benefit options,” said Amy Friedrich, vice president, of The Principal®. “Private exchanges can help employers manage costs by setting predictable budgets through a defined contribution funding strategy. In turn, the employee can use the allocated funds to select benefits aligned with their personal priorities.”

The Bright Choices Exchange is a private benefits exchange where an employer can choose how much to spend each year on benefits, then each employee determines how to spend their share of the money. Through this exchange, The Principal will offer all ancillary group benefits including, dental, life insurance, disability insurance and critical illness.

“The benefits market is changing rapidly. We want to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to offering affordable group benefits coupled with high-quality service,” said Friedrich.

Founded in 2007, Liazon Corporation operates the industry-leading private benefits exchange for businesses. Liazon works with top national and regional insurance providers and supports businesses nationwide through a distribution network of leading broker partners.

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 $483.2 billion in assets under management2 and serves some 19.4 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.

Insurance products from the Principal Financial Group® are issued by Principal National Life Insurance Company (except in New York) and Principal Life Company.

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, 2013.