Principal Life

Principal Life Insurance Company sits within a franchise that began in 1879 in Des Moines, Iowa, when a group of bankers formed the Bankers Life Association to provide life insurance protection for their customers and families.[1][2] Over the following decades the organization broadened from that original niche into a diversified financial group, reflecting how life insurers often leveraged long-duration liabilities into adjacent retirement and investment services.[1] California Department of Insurance records capture its legacy legal names and the evolution to the modern Principal Life identity, underscoring a pattern of rebranding as products and distribution expanded.[2] Principal's growth strategy has long emphasized workplace and institutional channels alongside traditional individual life. As pensions shifted toward defined-contribution retirement plans in the late 20th century, insurers with strong group capabilities found opportunity in retirement administration and employee benefits.[1] That, in turn, influenced product design: protection products paired with retirement accumulation and income planning. Economic cycles repeatedly tested the model. The Great Depression, post-war inflation, and the low-rate environment after 2008 all pressured spread-based products, requiring repricing and tighter asset-liability management. Like most large insurers, Principal uses reinsurance as part of risk management, though high-level history materials focus on business evolution rather than naming counterparties.[1] The throughline is adaptability: moving from a banker-focused origin into a modern insurer and retirement-services platform while maintaining a core identity in long-term protection.[1][2]

Sources: [1] https://www.principal.com/about-us/our-story/history (Principal - History) ; [2] https://interactive.web.insurance.ca.gov/companyprofile/companyprofile?doFunction=getCompanyProfile&event=companyProfile&naic=61271 (CA Dept. of Insurance - Company Profile (NAIC 61271))