The Principal Financial Group Mountain Plains Business Center Wins Company's Highest Award
March 17, 2008 (Des Moines, Iowa) — The Principal Financial Group® Mountain Plains Business Center and its Regional Managing Director Cliff Karthauser, CLU®, ChFC®, received the highest honor awarded each year by The Principal® to its top agency and its leadership.
This year marks the 20th time Karthauser has been named to the company's Management Achievement Round Table (MART) and his second year as the top-honor Grand Trophy. His 20 qualifications make him the most-decorated active field manager at The Principal.
"Cliff's organization is one of the largest geographically, but under his leadership, it's a close-knit group of financial professionals and staff. He truly believes in the power of people working together for a common goal of helping others," said Nick Cecere, CLU, vice president of career distribution at The Principal. "He is a great leader who sets expectations of others that are second only to those he sets for himself."
MART qualifications are based on several factors including sales of insurance and financial services products and performance against growth goals. The Grand Trophy is awarded as the top honor to the highest performer among that year's MART qualifiers.
In addition to the Grand Trophy, The Principal Mountain Plains Business Center, which covers Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming and Montana, is celebrating multiple 2007 successes, including:
Managing Director Gary Karthauser, CLU, ChFC, CFP®, who leads the Lincoln, Neb. office, qualified for his 16th MART recognition.
- David Scott, who leads the Denver, Colo. office, qualified for his first MART recognition.
- Twenty-one financial professionals from the Business Center qualified for the company's top sales clubs, including six producers qualifying for the first time.
- Kevin McMahon, of Boulder, Colo., was named The Principal New Producer of the Year, and finished the year as one of the top 15 producers overall.
"This year marks the most successful year ever for the Mountain Plains Business Center. I'm proud of our talented team of producers, staff and management," said Cliff Karthauser. "This group of individuals shares a real passion for helping our clients achieve financial security. We extend our thanks to all of our clients for their trust and partnership as we've reached these accomplishments."
In addition to the company honor, Cliff Karthauser also received three of the highest honors given by GAMA International (First In Class Award, Master Agency Award and International Management Award-Diamond Level). GAMA is the only professional industry association dedicated to the needs of financial services managers.
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.
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
