Friday, May 19, 2006

Jones Lang LaSalle


Principal names Zimpleman president, COO

MAY. 18 9:00 P.M. ET Retirement and financial services provider Principal Financial Group Inc. promoted its president of retirement and investor services to company president and chief operating officer on Thursday.

Larry Zimpleman will oversee all global and domestic operations, including the U.S. and international asset accumulation businesses; Principal Bank; the life and health insurance businesses; and the global asset management businesses under Principal Global Investors. He was also elected to Principal's board.

J. Barry Griswell will continue as chairman and chief executive, overseeing company strategy, mergers and acquisitions and corporate functions. The company also announced the election of Daniel J. Houston to executive vice president.

Principal reported a 39 percent profit increase for the first quarter on May 2. The Des Moines-based company, a leading 401k retirement plan provider, reported record earnings of $285.7 million, or $1.01 per share compared to 68 cents per share, or $205.5 million a year ago.

The company has $205.3 billion in assets under management and serves about 16 million customers worldwide from offices in Asia, Australia, Europe, Latin America and the United States.