The Principal Gets Best in Class Rankings in Annual Client Survey
March 13, 2008 (Des Moines, Iowa) — For the eighth year in a row, the largest retirement plan clients of the Principal Financial Group® say they are highly satisfied and have given the company Best in Class rankings. In the independent survey by Chatham Partners, retirement plan clients gave The Principal® "very strong" overall satisfaction ratings. Their loyalty scores exceeded the survey's benchmark by a wide margin.
Each year Chatham Partners surveys the largest retirement plan clients of The Principal—those with $50 million or more in assets. Chatham Partners is an independent market research firm.
"I'm continually impressed — not only by the high levels of satisfaction expressed by clients of The Principal — but that the sentiment rings true year after year," said Joshua Dietch, managing director of Chatham Partners. "In today's competitive marketplace, such consistent delivery of excellent service is truly noteworthy."
Clients ranked The Principal higher than the Chatham benchmarks in nearly every category. The Principal received Best in Class rankings in several areas including:
- Excellent reputation as a retirement plan service provider
- Easy to do business with
- Investment Services
- Actuarial services
- Client service consultants
- Participant statements
"Our results are consistently strong because we take the survey findings seriously," said Paul Brown, vice president of Retirement and Investor Services, The Principal. "We continuously look for ways to perform better, even where our clients are satisfied. We set high standards to make sure we are meeting and exceeding the needs of our clients."
Brown says clients respond to the survey in great numbers because they know The Principal takes action on the results. Clients of The Principal consistently have an above average response rate. More than 80 percent fill out the survey every year. The industry average is less than 50 percent.
About Chatham Partners
Chatham Partners is a market research and consulting firm specializing in assisting clients in maximizing the value of past, current and future customer and intermediary seller relationships through customer satisfaction win/loss and intermediary analysis. For additional information, please call Peter Starr, president of Chatham Partners, at 781-314-0600 or visit www.chathamllc.com.
About the Principal Financial Group
The Principal Financial Group® (The Principal®)1 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. A member of the Fortune® 500, the Principal Financial Group has $311.1 billion in assets under management2 and serves some 18.6 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.
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1) "The Principal Financial Group" and "The Principal" are registered service marks of Principal Financial Services, Inc., a member of the Principal Financial Group.
2) As of December 31, 2007
