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DES MOINES, Iowa--([ BUSINESS WIRE ])--The Principal Financial Group (NYSE: PFG) announced that Luca Maestri, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Xerox Corporation, joined The Principal Board of Directors effective Feb. 1, 2012.

"We are very pleased to welcome Luca to our Board. His extensive international and financial experience will help guide our continued international expansion and leadership in global investment management and retirement services"

aWe are very pleased to welcome Luca to our Board. His extensive international and financial experience will help guide our continued international expansion and leadership in global investment management and retirement services,a said Larry D. Zimpleman, chairman, president and chief executive officer of The Principal.

Maestri is responsible for all finance, treasury, investor relations, risk management, mergers and acquisitions, tax and audit operations at Xerox. He joined Xerox as CFO in February 2011 after serving as CFO of Nokia Siemens Networks since 2008. Prior to Xerox, Maestri held senior executive finance positions with General Motors (GM) Corporation and worked at GM for 20 years. He served as CFO of GM Europe and GM Brazil, and was Executive-In-Charge of the Fiat Alliance for GM Europe in Switzerland.

Maestri received a bacheloras degree in economics from LUISS University in Rome, and a masteras degree in science of management from Boston University.

Maestri commented, aI look forward to working closely with The Principal on continued expansion as the company deepens its extensive global reach and executes its aggressive growth strategy.a

For more news and insights from The Principal, connect with us on Twitter at: [ http://twitter.com/ThePrincipal ].

About the Principal Financial Group
The Principal Financial Group (The Principal )¹ is a global investment management leader including retirement services, insurance solutions and asset management. The Principal offers businesses, individuals and institutional clients a wide range of financial products and services, including retirement, asset management and insurance through its diverse family of financial services companies. Founded in 1879 and a member of the FORTUNE 500, the Principal Financial Group has $320.8 billion in assets under management² and serves some 17.8 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 ].

¹aThe Principal Financial Groupa and aThe Principala are registered service marks of Principal Financial Services, Inc., a member of the Principal Financial Group.
² As of September 30, 2011.