Principal Financial : boosting global asset allocation capabilities

As investment priorities and markets evolve, clients are increasingly demanding smarter, more holistic portfolio solutions from asset managers. Today, Principal Financial Group announced it is bringing together Principal Portfolio Strategies and the asset allocation team of Edge Asset Management (EDGE), a specialized boutique of Principal Global Investors, to respond to client needs.

'Investor choice will continue to drive our evolution and innovation as a firm,' said Pat Halter, chief operating officer for Principal Global Investors. 'As we grow our business globally, we will continue to operate dynamically to better serve the interests of our clients.'

Principal announced earlier today that Julia Lawler, senior executive director responsible for Principal Portfolio Strategies, will assume the corporate chief risk officer role. Todd Jablonski, who currently serves as chief investment officer for EDGE, was named chief investment officer for the Principal Global Investors' combined asset allocation group, and Rob Best, senior managing director, was named its chief operating officer.

'Today's investors are looking for both off-the-shelf and custom-designed investment solutions based on a variety of goals, including risk, income, cost and appreciation,' said Jablonski. 'I am excited for the global asset allocation teams at Principal Global Investors to come together and fuel continued innovation in our multi-asset solution offerings.'

Principal has a strong history of research-driven, multi-asset class solutions. The combined asset allocation teams will feature the Principal Strategic Asset Management (SAM) target risk portfolios, the Principal LifeTime target date fund series, and several other multi-managed, outcome-driven strategies-totaling more than $120 billion in assets under management.

Investment innovation will be a key priority for the teams as they build on a legacy of being first-to-market with outcome-oriented solutions. More than 15 years ago, Principal brought to market active, multi-managed, target-date mutual funds and are the largest provider today with their LifeTime suite of products. In 2008, Principal launched an income-focused asset allocation investment strategy, the Principal Global Diversified Income Fund, followed by an income-focused exchange traded fund, the Principal EDGE Active Income ETF (NYSE: YLD) in 2015.

The investment strategies and portfolio teams of Principal Portfolio Strategies remain the same. Jablonski will continue as portfolio manager on the SAM portfolios, and there will be no changes to the investment processes. Greg Tornga, current head of fixed income and portfolio manager at EDGE, will join the investment teams of the SAM portfolios. He will continue as a portfolio manager for the Principal Global Income Fund and the Principal EDGE Active Income ETF, but will no longer have responsibilities for the fixed income portfolios he previously managed for EDGE.

EDGE's fixed income team will join the Principal Global Fixed Income boutique under the leadership of David Blake with a combined $107 billion in assets under management. The team will gain access to Principal Global Fixed Income's global research and trading platform.

The EDGE equity team will remain under the leadership of Dan Coleman, current head of EDGE equities, who will assume the role of chief investment officer. The team will remain a separate investment boutique, focused on equities, within Principal Global Investors' multi-boutique structure. EDGE's equity team will retain the Edge Asset Management name which has become known for its fundamental, research-driven approach.