Company Overview: Board of Directors

Principal Financial Group, Inc. (the "Company")
Principal Life Insurance Company

Betsy J. Bernard, Past President - AT&T

Betsy J. Bernard has been a Director of the Company since 2001 and of Principal Life since 1999. Ms.Bernard was President of AT&T from October 2002 until December 2003. Prior to October 2002, she was Chief Executive Officer of AT&T Consumer since April 2001. Ms. Bernard is also a director of two other public companies: BearingPoint, Inc., a company providing business consulting, systems integration and managed services, and Telular Corporation, a company that designs, develops, manufactures and markets products based on proprietary interface technology for use in wireless communication networks.

Jocelyn Carter-Miller, President - TechEd Ventures

Jocelyn Carter-Miller has been a Director of the Company since 2001 and of Principal Life since 1999. Ms. Carter-Miller is President of TechEd Ventures, a firm that develops and manages charter schools and community-based programs. Ms. Carter-Miller was Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of Office Depot, Inc. from February 2002 until March 2004. Prior to that time, Ms. Carter-Miller was Corporate Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of Motorola, Inc. from February 1999 until February 2002. Ms. Carter-Miller is a director of one other public company: Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc., a global marketing and communications company. She is also a board member of Smart School Charter Middle and High Schools.

Gary E. Costley, Ph.D., Managing Director - C&G Capital and Management, LLC

Gary E. Costley has been a Director of the Company and Principal Life since 2002. Dr. Costley is a co-founder and managing director of C&G Capital Management, LLC, which provides capital and management to health, medical and nutritional products and services companies. He was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of International Multifoods Corporation, a manufacturer and marketer of branded consumer food and food service products, from November 2001 until June 2004. He is a director of three other public companies: Tiffany & Co., a holding company for Tiffany and Company, a jeweler and specialty retailer; Prestige Brand Holdings, Inc., a company that develops and markets over-the-counter drugs, household cleaning products and personal care items; and Covance, Inc., a drug development services company.

Michael T. Dan, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer - The Brink's Company

Michael T. Dan has been a Director of the Company and Principal Life since May of 2006. He has served as Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Brink's Company, a global security services firm, since 1999.

C. Daniel Gelatt, Ph.D., President - NMT Corporation

C. Daniel Gelatt has been a Director of the Company since 2001 and of Principal Life since 1988. Dr. Gelatt has been President of NMT Corporation, a computer software and microfilm service business, since 1986. He is also a director and President of these other Gelatt privately-owned companies: Advanced Marketing Concepts, Ltd., Elmwood Corporation, The Gelatt Corporation, Ginkgo, LLC and Gelatt Information Machines Corp. He is also a director and Board chairman of North Central Trust Company. He is a member of the LaCrosse Public Library Board, IEEE and the Association for Computing Machinery.

J. Barry Griswell, Chairman - Principal Financial Group

J. Barry Griswell has been a Director of the Company since 2001 and of Principal Life since 1998, and Chairman of the Company and Principal Life since May 2008. Mr. Griswell has announced his retirement as an employee of the Company on December 31, 2008. He was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Company and Principal Life from June 2006 until May 2008 and Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company and Principal Life from 2002 until June of 2006. Mr. Griswell has served as President of the Greater Des Moines Community Foundation since July 1, 2008. Mr. Griswell is also a director of Herman Miller, Inc., a public company that is an office furnishings designer and manufacturer. He is a trustee of Berry College. He is Chairman of the Business Committee for the Arts and a board member of the LL Global and Financial Services Roundtable. He is a member of the United Way of America board of trustees.

Sandra L. Helton, Past Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer - Telephone and Data Systems, Inc.

Sandra L. Helton has been a Director of the Company and Principal Life since 2001. Ms. Helton was Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Telephone & Data Systems, Inc., a diversified telecommunications corporation, from 1998 through 2006. She is a director of one other public company, Covance, Inc., a drug development services company. She is a director of Northwestern Memorial Health Care.

William T. Kerr, Chairman of the Board - Meredith Corporation

William T. Kerr has been a Director of the Company since 2001 and of Principal Life since 1995. Mr. Kerr was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Meredith Corporation, a media and marketing company, from January 1998 to June 2006. He is currently Chairman of Meredith Corporation. He is a director of four other public companies: Meredith Corporation; Whirlpool Corporation, a manufacturer of household appliances; Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc., a global marketing and communications company; and Arbitron, Inc., a media and marketing services company. He is a Trustee of Oxford University Press and of Harvard Business School Publishing.

Richard L. Keyser, Chairman of the Board - W.W. Grainger, Inc.

Richard L. Keyser has been a Director of the Company and Principal Life since 2002. Mr. Keyser has served as Chairman of the Board of W.W. Grainger, Inc., an industrial distributor of products used by businesses to maintain, repair and operate their facilities, since June 2008. He was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of W.W. Grainger, Inc. from 1997 to June 2008. Mr. Keyser is a director of three other public companies: W. W. Grainger, Inc., Rohm and Haas Company, a global specialty materials company, and Zebra Technologies Corp, an on-demand specialty digital printing and automatic identification solutions company. He is a director of Evanston Northwestern Healthcare and the National Merit Scholarship Foundation. He is a trustee for the John G. Shedd Aquarium and the Field Museum of Natural History. He is an Advisor for the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, and the Division of the Physical Sciences, University of Chicago.

Arjun K. Mathrani, Adjunct Professor - New York University's Stern School of Business, St. John's University, New York, and Cambridge University's Judge Business School

Arjun K. Mathrani has been a Director of the Company and Principal Life since 2003. Mr. Mathrani teaches courses in finance and banking at New York University's Stern School of Business, at St. John's University, New York, and at Cambridge University's Judge Business School. In 1998, Mr. Mathrani was the Chief Executive Officer of ING Barings in London. He retired from Chase Manhattan Bank in 1997, where he served as Chief Financial Officer between 1994 and 1996. Mr. Mathrani is a member of the Global Association of Risk Professionals.

Elizabeth E. Tallett, Principal - Hunter Partners, LLC

Elizabeth E. Tallett has been a Director of the Company since 2001 and of Principal Life since 1992. Ms. Tallett has been a Principal of Hunter Partners, LLC, which provides management services to developing life sciences companies, since July 2002. She was Chief Executive Officer of Dioscor Inc., a biopharmaceutical firm, from 1996 until July 2003. She is a director of four other public companies: Coventry Health Care, Inc., a managed health care company; IntegraMed America, Inc., a health services management company, Meredith Corporation, a media and marketing company, and Varian, Inc., a supplier of scientific instruments. She is also a director of the Biotechnology Council of New Jersey.

Therese M. Vaughan, Ph.D., Robb B. Kelley Distinguished Professor of Insurance and Actuarial Science at Drake University

Therese M. Vaughan has been a Director of the Company and Principal Life since November of 2005. Dr. Vaughan is the Robb B. Kelley Distinguished Professor of Insurance and Actuarial Science at Drake University. From 1994 - 2004, Dr. Vaughan served as the Iowa Insurance Commissioner. Dr. Vaughan represents the American Academy of Actuaries at the Regulation Committee of the International Actuarial Association and is a director of the Insurance Marketplace Standards Association and the National Council on Compensation Insurance. She is a member of the Board of Trustees of the American Institute for Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters and a director of Endurance Specialty Holdings Ltd., a public company that is a global provider of specialty lines property and casualty insurance and reinsurance. She is President-Elect of the American Risk and Insurance Association.

Larry D. Zimpleman, President and Chief Executive Officer - Principal Financial Group

Larry D. Zimpleman has been a Director of the Company and Principal Life since June 2006 and President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company and Principal Life since May 2008. He was President and Chief Operating Officer of the Company and of Principal Life from June 2006 until May 2008 and President, Retirement and Investor Services from December 2003 through June 2006. Mr. Zimpleman is a member of the board of trustees of Drake University.

Last updated: 12/2008