Frequently asked questions about Principal Securities

Frequently asked questions about Principal Securities


How can Principal Securities help me?

Our financial professionals or Registered Representatives can help you better understand your finances, set attainable goals, and identify investment solutions to help you reach them. Providing personalized service with broad access to many types of investment products, we'll help you develop, execute, and maintain your personal investment portfolio.

We offer a broad range of investment and financial products and services due to our relationship with Fidelity Clearing & Custody Solutions (FCCS) and its broker-dealer National Financial Services LLC (NFS).

Fidelity Clearing & Custody Solutions provides a comprehensive clearing and custody platform, brokerage services, trading capabilities, and practice management and consulting to registered investment advisors (RIAs), including strategic acquirers and professional asset managers, as well as retirement recordkeepers, broker-dealer firms, banks, and insurance companies through National Financial Services LLC (NFS) or Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC, Members NYSE, SIPC. In addition to providing services to third-party institutions, the NFS brokerage platform supports all the clearing and custody businesses at Fidelity, including Fidelity’s retail and capital markets businesses, bringing NFS assets under administration to more than $4 trillion. FCCS is an independent company, unaffiliated with Principal Securities.  

Where are you located?

We're headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa, and our Registered Representatives span all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

How can I benefit from Principal Securities' affiliation in Principal Financial Group®?

Principal Financial Group and its member companies, including Principal Securities, help people around the world to build, protect, and advance their financial well-being with retirement, insurance and asset management expertise. A member of the FORTUNE 500®, Principal® has $807 billion in assets under management1 and serves 34 million customers with offices in 25 nations and territories around the world.

Driven by the passion, innovation, and commitment of our employees, we serve our clients—investors just like you—with the highest standards. Principal is one of only 100 companies to be named one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies by the Ethisphere Institute, which recognizes organizations that have had a material impact on the way business is conducted by fostering a culture of ethics and transparency at every level of the company.2

Can you tell me more about Principal Securities' relationship with FCCS/NFS?

We believe that we can deliver substantial benefits from the important service relationship we maintain with Fidelity Clearing & Custody Solutions (FCCS) and its broker-dealer National Financial Services LLC (NFS). Knowing that every investor's account is being serviced with the commitment and resources of an industry leader allows our financial professionals to focus on what they do best: provide the personalized guidance and comprehensive investment services you need to reach your goals.

NFS's reputation for delivering quality products and services is made available to you through Principal Securities and your investment professional.

Together with NFS, we offer you these benefits:

  • The experience of an industry leader
  • Complete investment reporting on one easy-to-read, consolidated statement
  • Check writing, with detail on the same statement
  • Comprehensive tax reporting form (1099) for all investments
  • Asset management accounts

How can I be sure my assets are being protected?

You can feel confident that protecting your assets is a top priority of both Principal Securities and NFS. Much of the critical trade processing, clearance, client reporting, and systems backing your investment professional is performed by NFS—an industry leader that processes tens of thousands of transactions for millions of investors like you every day. NFS has both the vision and the resources to provide you with innovative products and services for many years to come.

NFS is a leading clearing firm and is subject to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), and other principal exchanges of which it is a member.

Does Principal Securities have a plan to continue business during disruptive events?

Review our business continuity document (PDF) to learn more about how we will handle events that significantly disrupt our business.

Is there any insurance provided to protect me?

Principal Securities and NFS are members of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC), a federal nonprofit corporation that protects customer assets in the unlikely event that a member Registered Investment Adviser–broker/dealer should fail to meet its financial obligations.

As a result, if your Registered Investment Adviser–broker/dealer should fail, and NFS fails, cash awaiting reinvestment and all securities held in your account are protected by SIPC coverage up to $500,000 (limited to $250,000 for claims in cash). Coverage does not protect against a decline in the market value of securities.

To supplement its SIPC coverage, NFS has arranged for additional protection for cash and covered securities from Lloyd’s of London and other insurers. This additional protection covers up to an aggregate loss limit of $1 billion for all customer claims, of which $1.9 million may cover cash awaiting reinvestment at the individual account level. There is no per-customer dollar limit on coverage of securities. This is the highest level of excess SIPC coverage currently available. For more information on Lloyd’s of London, please go to lloyds.com. Neither coverage protects against a decline in the market value of securities.


1 As of December 31, 2020

2 February 2021