Principal Financial Group, Inc. Prices Common Stock Offering

DES MOINES, Iowa--(Business Wire)--
Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) today announced that it priced a
public offering of 50,650,000 shares of common stock at $19.75 per share to
raise approximately $1 billion. The underwriters will have a 30-day option to
purchase up to an additional 7,597,500 shares of common stock to cover
over-allotments. The Company expects the offering to close on or about May 15,
2009. The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the offering for general
corporate purposes.

Merrill Lynch & Co. is the sole book-running manager of the offering. Deutsche
Bank Securities and Citi served as co-lead managers with Wachovia Securities,
Fox-Pitt Kelton Cochran Caronia Waller, and Ramirez & Co., Inc., as co-managers.

The shares are being offered pursuant to the Company`s effective shelf
registration statement on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. A
prospectus supplement and the accompanying base prospectus may be obtained upon
request from Merrill Lynch & Co., 4 World Financial Center, New York, New York
10080, telephone: 212-449-1000.

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of
an offer to buy, nor shall there be any offer or sale of the shares of common
stock in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be
unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of
any jurisdiction. Any offer, solicitation or sale will be made only by means of
the prospectus supplement and the accompanying base prospectus.

Forward looking and cautionary statements

This press release may contain forward-looking statements, including, without
limitation, statements as to sales targets, sales and earnings trends, and
management's beliefs, expectations, goals and opinions. The company does not
undertake to update these statements, which are based on a number of assumptions
concerning future conditions that may ultimately prove to be inaccurate. Future
events and their effects on the company may not be those anticipated, and actual
results may differ materially from the results anticipated in these
forward-looking statements. The risks, uncertainties and factors that could
cause or contribute to such material differences are discussed in the company's
annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2008 and quarterly
report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2009, each filed by the
company with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These risks and
uncertainties include, without limitation: competitive factors; volatility of
financial markets; decrease in ratings; interest rate changes; inability to
attract and retain sales representatives; international business risks; foreign
currency exchange rate fluctuations; a pandemic, terrorist attack or other
catastrophic event; default of the company`s re-insurers; and investment
portfolio risks.

About the Principal Financial Group

The Principal Financial Group® (The Principal®)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 $236.6
billion in assets under management2 and serves some 18.8 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 Group" and "The Principal" are registered service
marks of Principal Financial Services, Inc., a member of the Principal Financial
Group.

2 As of March 31, 2009

Principal Financial Group, Inc.
Media
Susan Houser, 515-248-2268 (w), 515-240-7558 (c)
houser.susan@principal.com
Eva Quinn, 515-247-7468 (w), 515-778-2786 (c)
quinn.eva@principal.com
Investors
Tom Graf, 515-235-9500
graf.tom@principal.com

Copyright Business Wire 2009