Principal Financial Group Inc : Principal Financial Group Chairman and CEO Named 2013 Lillywhite Award Winner

Larry Zimpleman recognized by EBRI for outstanding contributions to economic security

September 3, 2013 (Des Moines, Iowa) - Larry D. Zimpleman, chairman, president and chief executive officer of the Principal Financial Group®, has been named the winner of the 2013 Lillywhite Award. The Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) sponsors the award, which recognizes outstanding lifetime contributions to Americans' economic security.

"Larry's contributions to America's retirement prospects extend through the tens of millions of participants served by The Principal® during his career, as well as his leadership in a wide variety of professional and academic organizations over the years," noted Dallas Salisbury, president and CEO of EBRI, which has sponsored the award since 1992. "He is a long-standing champion of savings and financial literacy, who continues to lead both his company and this industry by his example."

Salisbury will present the award to Zimpleman on October 29, 2013, at the Pensions & Investments West Coast Defined Contribution Conference in San Francisco.

Zimpleman joined The Principal in 1971 as an actuarial intern. He has more than 40 years' experience in the financial services industry at The Principal, including all aspects of strategic and operations management. Since 2001, Zimpleman has led the company's global expansion efforts and integration of domestic pension operations with retirement businesses outside the U.S.

As a highly regarded expert on retirement security, investment management and global retirement systems, his leadership and expertise is regularly sought by government officials and regulators worldwide. In both 2002 and 2006, Zimpleman was elected to serve as a delegate to the congressionally mandated National Summit on Retirement Savings (SAVER Summit) held in Washington, D.C. Zimpleman participates in The Wall Street Journal's "The Experts" and frequently writes guest opinions for various publications and on The Principal Blog.

Zimpleman holds leadership positions in several industry organizations (including the Financial Services Roundtable, the American Council of Life Insurers, and the Business Roundtable) focused on promoting and protecting the financial security of workers and businesses throughout the United States and worldwide.

Zimpleman was presented the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012 from PLANSPONSOR, a national retirement industry magazine, for his extraordinary contributions to the retirement plan industry.

The Lillywhite Award is named for Ray Lillywhite, a pioneer in the pension field with Alliance Capital, who for decades guided state employee pension plans. EBRI established the award in 1992 to acknowledge the contributions of individuals who have had distinguished careers in the investment management and employee benefits fields and whose outstanding service enhances Americans' economic security. More information about the Lillywhite Award and a list of previous winners is online at www.ebri.org/programs/lillywhite/.

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

Commemorating its 35th anniversary in 2013, the Employee Benefit Research Institute is a private, nonpartisan, nonprofit research institute based in Washington, DC, that focuses on health, savings, retirement, and economic security issues. EBRI does not lobby and does not take policy positions. The work of EBRI is made possible by funding from its members and sponsors, which include a broad range of public, private, for-profit and nonprofit organizations. For more information go to www.ebri.org or www.asec.org.

The Principal Financial Group® (The Principal ®) 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 management 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.www.principal.com.