Principal Financial Group vs Apollo Global Management
Side-by-side comparison of AI visibility scores, market position, and capabilities
Des Moines retirement and asset management (NASDAQ: PFG) at $16.13B 2024 revenue (+18%), $753B AUM; new CEO Deanna Strable (Jan 2025), Ascensus ESOP acquisition (2024), $1.7T AUA competing with Empower for mid-market 401(k).
About
Principal Financial Group, Inc. is a Des Moines, Iowa-based financial services company — publicly traded on NASDAQ (NASDAQ: PFG) as an S&P 500 Financials component — providing retirement savings, asset management, and group insurance and benefits to 61 million customers worldwide through approximately 20,000 employees with $753 billion in assets under management (AUM) as of Q2 2025, $1.7 trillion in assets under administration, and $16.13 billion in 2024 annual revenue (up 18% year-over-year) with net income of $1.57 billion. Founded in 1879 as The Bankers Life Association by Edward Temple and Simon Casady to provide affordable life insurance to Iowans, Principal demutualized and completed its IPO in 2001. Deanna Strable became President and CEO in January 2025 (succeeding Dan Houston), with Joel Pitz named CFO. Principal operates through three segments: Retirement and Income Solutions (RIS — 401(k), 403(b), defined benefit plans, nonqualified executive benefits, pension risk transfer, and individual retirement products), Principal Asset Management (equity, fixed income, real estate, and alternative investments for institutional clients), and Benefits and Protection (group dental, vision, life, and disability insurance). Key acquisitions include AFP Cuprum (Chilean pension, $1.5B, 2012), Wells Fargo's institutional retirement and trust business ($1.2B, 2019, adding 401(k)/pension/ESOP plans), and the 2024 agreement to acquire Ascensus's ESOP business (800 plans, 165,000+ participants). Principal's market capitalization stands at approximately $18.3 billion.
Alternative asset manager with $733B AUM; Athene insurance integration (~$350B liabilities) defines insurance-to-alternatives model; 70% credit AUM makes Apollo world's largest private credit manager.
About
Apollo Global Management is one of the world's largest alternative asset managers, founded in 1990 by Leon Black, Marc Rowan, and Josh Harris in New York City, where it remains headquartered and trades on NYSE (APO). The company managed approximately $733 billion in assets under management as of late 2024 under CEO Marc Rowan, who assumed leadership in 2021 following Leon Black's departure amid controversy over his personal relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. Apollo generated approximately $14.8 billion in total revenues for FY2024, spanning private equity, credit (the dominant segment), and real assets, with the company's defining strategic differentiator being its fully integrated insurance platform through Athene Holding—the fixed annuity and retirement services company Apollo merged into a fully owned subsidiary in 2022 after originally creating Athene in 2009 as a vehicle to deploy insurance liabilities into Apollo-managed alternative credit strategies.
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