Defined Benefit (Pension) · DOL Form 5500 · 2024

Principal Financial Group, Inc. Pension Plan

Data updated 2026-08-25

$1.5B
Total assets Very large vs avg
11,945
Participants Very large workforce
99th
Percentile by assets National rank
$122,762
Avg per participant Near avg balance/head
PlainRetire home → About this data RSS: change history

Official DOL plan name: Principal Cash Balance Plan · Sponsored by Principal Financial Group, Inc. · Iowa · Finance & Insurance

$1.5B in assets, 11,945 participants

Principal Financial Group, Inc.'s Principal Cash Balance Plan reported $1.5B in total assets and 11,945 participants in its 2024 DOL Form 5500 filing, ranking in the 99th percentile by assets among filed plans. Figures are as reported by the plan sponsor to the Department of Labor, not audited or endorsed by PlainRetire.

  • #8,373 in Finance & Insurance (8,549 peers)

Coverage in Iowa

Principal Cash Balance Plan covers 11,945 participants in Iowa, 20x the typical Iowa plan (state average ~609 per filing). Assets: $1.5B.

#8,373
in Finance & Insurance (8,549 peers)
-13.7%
assets change YoY
15×
vs typical plan assets (national mean)

The plan reported a net loss of $207M for the year, a single-year figure driven by markets and benefit payments, not a measure of plan health.

Principal Cash Balance Plan's outsized position by total assets

Principal Cash Balance Plan vs every filed plan by assets

End-of-year total assets · plan year 2024 · DOL Form 5500

$1,466,387,124 Top 1% higher than 99% of 123,620 filed plans

This plan $0 $2,050,000,000 every filed plan with reported assets, bucketed by value

Dashed line + filled bar = this entry, among filed plans.

Source U.S. Department of Labor Form 5500 filings (EBSA) · plan year 2024

Principal Cash Balance Plan's mega-plan peer group by participant headcount

Plan-year 2024 Form 5500 filings with a reported participant count, partitioned by headcount band, not by assets. Principal Cash Balance Plan is a mega filing (11,945 participants), the rightmost band on the breakdown.

What changed between DOL Form 5500 filings

plan year 2023 → plan year 2024

  • Principal Cash Balance Plan reported net income fell from $121M in the plan year 2023 filing to -$207M in the plan year 2024 filing.
  • Principal Cash Balance Plan end-of-year assets fell from $1.7B in the plan year 2023 filing to $1.5B in the plan year 2024 filing.
  • Principal Cash Balance Plan reported participants fell from 12,492 in the plan year 2023 filing to 11,945 in the plan year 2024 filing.

See the national 2023→2024 release diff →

Published 5500 schedule card

Filing strip 421520346 · Principal Financial Group, Inc. PY 2024 · Defined Benefit (Pension)

Principal Cash Balance Plan · $1.5B · 11,945 · 99th

  • BOY $1.5B
  • BOY 11,945
  • BOY 99th
  • BOY Defined Benefit (Pension)
  • BOY near Aon Retirement Pension Plan
  • BOY ind #8373

Stamps derive from this plan's Form 5500 line items (assets, participants, type, EIN, cohort placement) - not a quality rating of the sponsor. Read with Finance & Insurance retirement plans → · Plans in Iowa →

Principal Cash Balance Plan in the asset neighbourhood

Principal Cash Balance Plan$1.5BAon Retirement Pension Plan$1.5BNyu Langone Hospitals Retirement PlanNyu Langone Hospitals Retire…$1.5BWestern Washington Laborers-Employers Pension PlanWestern Washington Laborers-…$1.5BCleveland-Cliffs Combined Pension PlanCleveland-Cliffs Combined Pe…$1.5B
End-of-year total assets ($B) among Principal Cash Balance Plan and nearest nationwide Defined Benefit (Pension) peers. Source: DOL Form 5500 plan year 2024.

Iowa filing particulars

Total Assets (Beginning of Year)$1.7B
Net Assets (End of Year)$1.5B
Net Income-$207M
Employer EIN421520346
Plan Effective Date2022-12-31
Filing StatusFILING RECEIVED

Sponsor Plan History (Principal Financial Group, Inc.)

Sponsor-wide plan assets over time

All Principal Financial Group, Inc. plans reported in each filing year

Latest sponsor-wide plan assets
$6.1B 16.49531919009572% vs 2022
2024 filing year
$5B$5.5B$6B$6.5B 202220232024 $5.21B $6.07B ▲ +16.5%
Year Plans Participants Total Assets
2022 4 36,517 $5.2B
2023 3 25,319 $5.9B
2024 3 24,786 $6.1B

Nearby Defined Benefit (Pension) Plans in Iowa

Peer Defined Benefit (Pension) plans, same state, same plan type, ranked by total assets.

Principal Cash Balance Plan vs. nearby Defined Benefit (Pension) plans in Iowa, assets vs. participants Scatter plot of 6 data points. -5000050001000015000 00.511.522.5 Total assets ($B) Participants Principal Cash Balance Plan, Total assets ($B): 1.466387124 · Participants: 11945Principal Cash Balance PlanTransamerica Pension Plan, Total assets ($B): 2.198965485 · Participants: 7170Transamerica Pension PlanMidamerican Energy Company Retirement Plan, Total assets ($B): 0.521334295 · Participants: 2805Midamerican Energy Company Retirement PlanEmployers Mutual Casualty Company Retirement Plan, Total assets ($B): 0.361826911 · Participants: 1908Employers Mutual Casualty Company Retirement PlanPension Plan of the Plumbers and Steamfitters Local Union No. 33 Retirement Trust, Total assets ($B): 0.330986539 · Participants: 1233Pension Plan of the Plumbers and Steamfitters Local Union No. 33 Retirement TrustFbl Financial Group Retirement Plan, Total assets ($B): 0.253600654 · Participants: 533Fbl Financial Group Retirement Plan
Principal Cash Balance Plan vs. nearby Defined Benefit (Pension) plans in Iowa, assets vs. participants

Scale composition for Principal Cash Balance Plan

Principal Cash Balance Plan reports $1.5B in end-of-year assets across 11,945 participants (0.012% of the $12.3T held by all Form 5500 filers in the national rollup , and 0.013% of 93,925,755 covered participants) - about $122,762 per participant (89% of the national average assets-per-participant) . Net income for plan year 2024 was -$207M.

This plan identity (EIN 421520346, plan #005) has 3 Form 5500 filings on file from 2022 to 2024 , with end-of-year assets moving from $1.5B to $1.5B (-5.4%) while covered participants moved from 11,788 to 11,945 . Single-year sparse filers cannot show that trail.

Plan year Participants EOY assets Filing
2022 11,788 $1.5B Open filing
2023 12,492 $1.7B Open filing
2024 · index core 11,945 $1.5B This page

The same sponsor also keeps 1 other index-core plan on PlainRetire:

Principal Cash Balance Plan's out-of-state Defined Benefit (Pension) peers by assets and headcount

Outside Iowa, the nearest Defined Benefit (Pension) by assets is Aon Retirement Pension Plan in GA ($1.5B); by covered participants it is Pension Plan of General Atomics in CA (11,958 participants). Same-state nearby plans are listed separately above.

Closest by plan assets

Nearest other-state filings by tot_assets_eoy ($1.5B here).

Similar participant headcount

Nearest other-state filings by covered participants (11,945 participants); asset peers above are excluded.

DOL Form 5500 plan year 2024. Asset totals can differ widely at the same headcount; neither axis is a quality rating.

Frequently Asked Questions

How did Principal Cash Balance Plan assets move in 2024?
Principal Cash Balance Plan pulled back noticeably - down 13.7% during 2024, from $1.7B to $1.5B. Reported net income was -$207M.
How have Principal Financial Group, Inc. plan assets changed over time?
Across 3 plan years on file (2022-2024), Principal Financial Group, Inc.'s sponsor-wide assets grew 16.5%, from $5.2B to $6.1B.
Where does Principal Cash Balance Plan rank by assets among Form 5500 filers?
Principal Cash Balance Plan ranks in the 99th percentile by end-of-year assets among 123,622 plans that reported assets for plan year 2024 (among the largest 1% of all filed plans).
Which Defined Benefit (Pension) plans are similar in size to Principal Cash Balance Plan?
Among Defined Benefit (Pension) plans in other states, the closest by assets is Aon Retirement Pension Plan in GA ($1.5B, 1,646 participants).
Which Defined Benefit (Pension) plans cover a similar participant headcount to Principal Cash Balance Plan?
Among Defined Benefit (Pension) plans in other states, the closest by covered participants is Pension Plan of General Atomics in CA (11,958 participants, $1.0B in assets).