Business Context and Reporting Period
Company: Principal Financial Group, Inc.
Filing Type: Form 13F-HR (Institutional Investment Manager)
Reporting Period: Calendar Year Ended December 31, 2011
Report Type: 13F Combination Report (Includes holdings for Principal Financial Group and 5 other affiliated managers)
Signatory: Michael Roughton, Vice President
Key Financial Metrics
Total Portfolio Value: $29,977,648,000 (approx. $30.0 billion)
Total Number of Holdings: 3,730 entries
Asset Class: Primarily U.S. Equity Securities (Common Stock)
Top 5 Holdings by Value (Estimated based on share count and market cap):
- General Electric Co (16,005,007 shares)
- Pfizer Inc (14,813,063 shares)
- Wells Fargo & Co (6,807,970 shares)
- Verizon Communications Inc (3,634,361 shares)
- Exxon Mobil Corp (5,715,993 shares)
Note: Exact dollar values per holding are not provided in the text; rankings are based on share volume and typical market capitalization for the period.
Material Changes and Portfolio Composition
Portfolio Breadth: The filing covers a highly diversified portfolio with 3,730 distinct entries across various sectors including Financials, Healthcare, Technology, Energy, and Consumer Discretionary.
Managerial Scope: This is a combination report aggregating data from Principal Financial Group and five other managers: Principal Global Investors, Principal Real Estate Investors, Principal Life Insurance Co., Principal Financial Services, and Principal Management Corporation.
Voting Authority: The vast majority of holdings are reported with "Sole" voting authority, indicating direct control over investment decisions for these accounts.
Notable Holdings by Sector
- Financials: Significant positions in JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo.
- Healthcare: Large allocations to UnitedHealth Group, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, and Pfizer.
- Technology: Major holdings in Microsoft, Apple, Intel, and Cisco Systems.
- Energy: Substantial exposure to Exxon Mobil, Chevron, and ConocoPhillips.
Guidance, Outlook, and Risks
Guidance/Outlook: Form 13F filings are historical disclosures of equity holdings and do not contain forward-looking guidance, earnings projections, or management commentary regarding future strategy.
Risks/Contingencies: The filing does not disclose specific risk factors or contingencies. However, the concentration in large-cap U.S. equities implies exposure to general market volatility, interest rate sensitivity (particularly for financial and utility holdings), and sector-specific regulatory risks.
Unusual Items: The report includes holdings in various Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and preferred securities, indicating a diversified approach beyond common equity.
Investor Verification Checklist
- Portfolio Turnover: Compare this filing with the Q3 2011 13F to assess buying/selling activity and turnover rates.
- Concentration Risk: Verify if the top 10 holdings exceed 20% of the total reported value to assess concentration risk.
- Derivatives: Note that Form 13F only reports long equity positions; verify if the firm holds significant short positions or derivatives in other filings (e.g., 13F-HR does not capture short sales or options).
- Manager Attribution: Confirm which specific sub-manager (e.g., Principal Life vs. Principal Global) holds the largest portion of the $30 billion portfolio.
- Valuation Accuracy: Cross-reference share counts with historical stock prices from December 31, 2011, to validate the reported total value of ~$30 billion.