Principal Global Investors Establishes Distribution Footprint in Latin America
September 5, 2007 (Des Moines, Iowa) — Principal Global Investors, a diversified asset management organization with world class investment expertise in equities, fixed income and real estate, today announced that it is establishing a distribution footprint in Latin America. Ignacio Cerezo will lead the company's efforts to explore institutional asset management opportunities in the region, with an initial focus on Brazil, Mexico and Chile. Cerezo, based in São Paulo, Brazil, will join Principal Global Investors as managing director, Institutional Advisory Services.
"We are very pleased that Ignacio has agreed to lead our expansion into Latin America," said Patrick Mc Nelis, executive director, Institutional Advisory Services. "Ignacio has extensive experience in the region, designing investment programs to meet the diverse needs of central banks, multinational companies and other sophisticated institutional investors. I'm confident that with his contributions, we will be able to replicate the tremendous success we've seen in Europe and Asia, where we've grown institutional assets under management five-fold over the last five years."
Cerezo has more than 20 years of experience in international financial markets, gained in a variety of areas, including asset management, private banking and fixed income sales and marketing. Before joining Principal Global Investors, Cerezo headed Citigroup's Asset Management business in Latin America for seven years prior to its sale to Legg Mason. Previously, he worked for Salomon Smith Barney Asset Management and JP Morgan. Cerezo is a graduate of Oxford University. He is fluent in Spanish, Portuguese and French.
About Principal Global Investors
Principal Global Investors is a diversified asset management organization and a member of the Principal Financial Group®, with expertise in equities, fixed income and real estate investments, as well as specialized overlay and advisory services. Principal Global Investors manages $221.4 billion in assets primarily for retirement plans and other institutional clients.1
About the Principal Financial Group
The Principal Financial Group® (The Principal®)2 is a leader in offering businesses, individuals and institutional clients a wide range of financial products and services, including retirement and investment services, life and health insurance, and banking through its diverse family of financial services companies and national network of financial professionals. A member of the Fortune 500, the Principal Financial Group has $282.1 billion in assets under management3 and serves some 18.1 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.
About The Principal in Latin America
In addition to growing its institutional asset management business in Latin America, the Principal Financial Group also offers pensions, annuities, insurance, mutual funds and mortgage banking, with operations in Brazil, Chile and Mexico. The Principal has approximately $16 billion in assets under management and serves over five million clients in the region. In Brazil, the company has a joint venture with Banco do Brasil called Brasilprev, which is the third largest supplementary pension provider in the country. In Chile, the company provides annuities, life insurance and long-term savings products through Principal Compañía de Seguros Vida Chile, mutual funds through Principal Administradora General de Fondos, and mortgage loans through Principal Créditos Hipotecarios. In Mexico, the company provides pensions through Principal AFORE, one of the top five pension providers in the country, annuities through Principal Pensiones and mutual funds through Principal Fondos de Inversiones.
1) As of June 30, 2007. Principal Global Investors is the asset management arm of the Principal Financial Group ® (The Principal ®) and includes the asset management operations of the following subsidiaries of The Principal: Principal Global Investors, LLC; Principal Real Estate Investors, LLC; Spectrum Asset Management, Inc.; Post Advisory Group, LLC; Columbus Circle Investors; Edge Asset Management, Inc.; Principal Global Investors (Europe) Limited; Principal Global Investors (Singapore) Ltd.; Principal Global Investors (Australia) Ltd.; and the majority owned affiliates of Principal International, Inc. "The Principal Financial Group"and "The Principal" are registered trademarks of Principal Financial Services, Inc., a member of the Principal Financial Group.
2) "The Principal Financial Group" and "The Principal" are registered service marks of Principal Financial Services, Inc., a member of the Principal Financial Group.
3) As of June 30, 2007
