Financial Services >> CEO Interviews >> February 24, 2017

Interview with the Chairman, President and CEO: Principal Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:PFG)

Houston, Daniel J.
Daniel J. Houston is Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Principal Financial Group Inc. He is responsible for overall management of the company. Mr. Houston joined the company in 1984 in Dallas. He has held several management positions, being named Senior Vice President in 2000, Executive Vice President in 2006, and President of Retirement and Income Solutions in 2008. He was named President and Chief Operating Officer in 2014 before assuming his current role in 2015. Mr. Houston is a member of several boards, including Greater Des Moines Partnership, Employee Benefits Research Institute, American Council of Life Insurers, Financial Services Roundtable, Iowa State University Business School Dean’s Advisory Council, Partnership for a Healthier America and Reaching Higher Iowa. He received his bachelor's degree from Iowa State University in 1984. Mr. Houston has appeared before the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging to discuss the importance of educating the work force about the financial needs in retirement. He joined the joint forum of U.S. Senate Committees on Finance and Health, Education, Labor and Pensions to discuss “Private-Sector Retirement Savings Plans: What Does the Future Hold?” He also authored a chapter in The Upside of Aging, published by John Wiley & Sons in 2014, on the keys to achieving financial security in retirement. Profile
TWST: Let's start with a brief history of the company, and would you talk a bit about how it has evolved and grown over the years?

Mr. Houston: We started in 1879