Nearly eight out of ten business owners (79 percent) agree having a good employee benefits plan is part of their responsibility as an employer1. But owners of small businesses, who often compete with bigger organizations for employees, have few resources to find out how their benefits stack up.

Through the new Principal Benefit Design ToolSM from the Principal Financial Group®, advisors can help small businesses benchmark group benefit features or business owners can use the tool on their own. The online resource provides a comparison point for group dental, short-term disability, long-term disability and life insurance - something that has not been available in the small case market until now.

"Owners of small businesses don't have access to the same resources as their counterparts at larger organizations and that can put them at a competitive disadvantage," said Amy Friedrich, vice president, The Principal®. "This new self-service tool puts benefit design intelligence at advisors' fingertips, helping fill a knowledge gap for owners of small businesses."

With a minimal amount of information, the tool provides a customized report focused on how the particular organization's benefit designs compare to peer businesses. The tool is easy to use via desktop computer, or any tablet and a report is ready in just a few minutes.

"This tool goes further than any other in the industry because it gives advisors hard data they can provide to their small business owner clients to help them make more informed decisions about their benefit offering," adds Friedrich.

For more news and insights from The Principal, connect with us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ThePrincipal.

About the Principal Financial Group

The Principal Financial Group® (The Principal®)2 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 $450.6 billion in assets under management3 and serves some 19.8 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 Well-Being IndexSM, third quarter of 2012.
2 "The Principal Financial Group" and "The Principal" are registered service marks of Principal Financial Services, Inc., a member of the Principal Financial Group.
3 As of June 30, 2013.

Principal Financial Group
Erica Jensen, 515-362-0049
Jensen.Erica@principal.com