Principal Financial Group's Third-Quarter Operating Earnings Per Share Rise 6% to $2.22 as Life Insurance Swings to a Profit, International Pensions Slide 38% and Assets Under Management Hold at $785 Billion

Principal Financial Group, Inc. has published its third-quarter 2026 results in an earnings release filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as an exhibit to a current report. The exhibit as retrieved for this article does not display an issue date, but the company's earnings call took place on Tuesday, October 27, 2026. The results show modest growth in operating earnings per share, a recovery in life insurance, weaker international pensions and negative net cash flow in asset management. This article reports the figures as published, and flags where it has calculated a number itself.

Net income and operating earnings

Net income attributable to Principal Financial Group was $631.9 million, or $2.91 per share, against $213.8 million, or $0.95, in the third quarter of 2025. The company also reports non-GAAP net income excluding an exited business: $354.8 million, or $1.64 per share, against $465.6 million, or $2.06. The two comparisons point in opposite directions, which shows how much the exited business affects the GAAP figure. The release as reviewed does not explain which items drove the GAAP result, and this article does not guess.

The company's main measure is non-GAAP operating earnings. It was $481.8 million, or $2.22 per share, against $2.10 a year earlier, an increase of 6% per share. Excluding significant variances, which are items management considers unusual, operating earnings were $540.6 million, or $2.49 per share, against $2.32, an increase of 7%.

Segment results

The release reports pre-tax operating earnings by segment. Total pre-tax operating earnings were $587.5 million against $579.9 million.

Retirement and Income Solutions earned $297.8 million against $310.3 million, a 4% decline, while its net revenue rose 1% to $757.3 million.

Principal Asset Management earned $230.5 million against $274.7 million. It has two parts. Investment Management earned $168.1 million against $173.5 million, with assets under management of $581.7 billion, down 3%. International Pension earned $62.4 million against $101.2 million, a 38% fall, even though its assets under management rose 10% to $166.2 billion. The release summary used here does not explain why earnings fell as assets grew, so this article does not offer a reason.

Benefits and Protection earned $169.7 million against $86.5 million, nearly double. Within it, Specialty Benefits earned $137.3 million against $155.5 million, a 12% fall, although premium and fees rose 6%. Life insurance earned $32.4 million against a loss of $69.0 million, a swing of $101.4 million calculated here, which accounts for more than the entire segment improvement of $83.2 million, also calculated here. The Corporate segment lost $110.5 million against a loss of $91.6 million.

Assets and flows

Assets under management were $785.0 billion, essentially flat against $784.3 billion. Assets under administration, which include assets the company administers but does not manage, were $1,840.3 billion, up 3%. Net cash flow for assets under management was an outflow of $10.7 billion, against an inflow of $0.4 billion a year earlier. Flat assets alongside a $10.7 billion outflow indicates that market movements or other factors offset the withdrawals, though the portion of the release reviewed does not give the split.

Capital and dividend

Principal returned $429 million to shareholders in the quarter, made up of $250 million in share repurchases and $179 million in dividends. It reported excess and available capital of $1.5 billion. The board set a fourth-quarter common dividend of $0.85 per share, which is $0.01 higher than the previous quarter and 8% higher than a year earlier. It is payable on December 18 to shareholders of record on December 2. Annualised, $0.85 per quarter would be $3.40 per share, calculated here, although the board declares each dividend separately and the release gives no commitment beyond this one. Of the $429 million returned in the quarter, buybacks were about 58% and dividends about 42%, calculated here.

Management commentary

Chief executive Deanna Strable said: "We grew earnings per share, continued to build momentum in the markets where we're focused."

Reading the results

Three points stand out. First, total pre-tax segment earnings rose only about 1%, calculated here ($587.5 million against $579.9 million), so the underlying segment picture is steadier than the 6% per-share headline might suggest. Second, the improvement in life insurance offset lower earnings in Specialty Benefits, International Pension and Retirement and Income Solutions, which means the mix of earnings changed more than the total. Third, the $10.7 billion outflow in assets under management is a reminder that flat balances can hide changing flows. The release as reviewed does not give the prior-year operating earnings in dollars or the share count, so this article does not attempt to explain the gap between earnings growth and per-share growth.

What the release does not tell us

The portion reviewed does not provide guidance for future quarters, and this article does not offer a forecast. It also does not separate the contribution of market performance from client flows. Anyone relying on these figures for a decision should read the full exhibit, which includes reconciliations of the non-GAAP measures to the GAAP results.