The Principal Financial Group to Offer Expanded Support, Resources to Advisors of Key Distribution Partners; Unique Team of Wholesalers Offer Tools, Single Point of Entry Across Retirement Plan, Annuity and Investment Solutions.

DES MOINES, Iowa -- An expanded array of advisor support and resources - including business development assistance, marketing advice and sales tools - are now available from the Principal Financial Group(R), the nation's 401(k) leader and total retirement solutions innovator. Offered exclusively to advisors of key distribution partners at wire houses and independent broker-dealers, the resources are delivered through directors of business development (DBDs) who help advisors in third-party channels grow their business.

"We've received excellent feedback from the advisor community on the support and resources provided through our DBDs. There's really no other role like it in the industry today," explains Dan McGee, vice president-national sales director, business development, The Principal(R). "This success spurred us to more than double the number of DBDs from eight to 17 nationwide. We're also expanding the package of solutions brought to advisors from corporate retirement plans and Total Retirement Suite to include retail mutual funds (Principal Investors Funds), retirement income solutions and annuities."

According to Lisa G. Kottler, vice president-retirement services at National Financial Partners, the DBD role offers a "unique ability to create the most appropriate solutions for clients." Kottler says, "With fiduciary issues still a major concern for retirement plan sponsors, our network of independent advisors are focused on providing a 'process' solution rather than a 'product' solution. The Principal has greatly enhanced our ability to accomplish this objective."

The Principal offers resources across a wide variety of topics, including:

--Creating an effective sales and service process

--Developing a value proposition that clearly illustrates the advisor's value to clients

--Building an advisor presentation

--Benchmarking a prospect's 401(k) program

--Using a proprietary request for proposal (RFP) system that allows advisors to formalize a vendor search and quantify the results

--Creating investment policy and employee education policy statements

About the Principal Financial Group

The Principal Financial Group(R) (The Principal (R))(1) is a leader in offering businesses, individuals and institutional clients a wide range of financial products and services, including retirement and investment services, life and health insurance, and banking through its diverse family of financial services companies. A member of the Fortune 500, the Principal Financial Group has $195.2 billion in assets under management(2) and serves some 15.6 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 Group" and "The Principal" are registered service marks of Principal Financial Services, Inc., a member of the Principal Financial Group.

(2) As of December 31, 2005