Principal Financial Group vs Morgan Stanley
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.
Global investment bank and wealth manager with $61.9B FY2024 revenue; $7.5T client assets; E*Trade ($13B, 2020) and Eaton Vance ($7B, 2021) acquisitions anchored shift to 55% fee-based wealth revenue.
About
Morgan Stanley is a leading global financial services firm providing investment banking, securities, wealth management, and investment management services, founded in 1935 by Henry Sturgis Morgan (grandson of J.P. Morgan) and Harold Stanley after breaking away from J.P. Morgan & Co. following the Glass-Steagall Act separation of commercial and investment banking. Headquartered in New York City and trading on NYSE (MS), the company reported approximately $61.9 billion in net revenues for FY2024 under CEO Ted Pick, who succeeded the transformative James Gorman as CEO in January 2024. Gorman's decade-long strategy—shifting Morgan Stanley's revenue mix from volatile investment banking and trading toward stable fee-based wealth management—has resulted in the Wealth Management segment representing approximately 55% of net revenues, with $7.5 trillion in total client assets managed across 15,000+ financial advisors.
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