Principal Financial's fourth-quarter profit rises on higher premiums, fee income

Feb 9 (Reuters) - Insurance and asset management company Principal Financial (PFG) reported a rise in fourth-quarter profit on Monday, helped by increased premiums and improved returns on its ?investments.

Strong market performance in the last quarter of ?2025, supported by U.S. Federal Reserve rate cuts, ?lifted investment returns for insurers such ?as Principal ?Financial.

Insurers have also benefited from their fixed-income investments, such ?as government securities, as ?their interest rates continue to stay high despite several rate cuts last ?year.

Principal's assets under ?management rose ?10% compared with the previous year to $781 billion in the quarter.

Premiums and fees from ?its specialty benefits business, which provides employee benefit plans to small and mid-sized businesses, increased 3% to $845.8 million, while retirement and income solutions revenue rose 3% to $754.1 million.

The ?Iowa-based ?company's adjusted operating earnings stood at $488.0 million, or $2.19 per share, for the fourth ?quarter, compared with $448.1 million, or $1.94 per share, a year earlier.

The company also forecast a 9% to 12% growth in its annual adjusted operating earnings per share for fiscal year 2026.

Principal's shares have ?gained 8.8% so far this year, compared with a 1.6% jump in the benchmark S&P 500 index. (Reporting by ?Atharva Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore)