PRINCIPAL FINANCIAL GROUP INC Goodwill & Intangibles Disclosure
2. Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets
Goodwill
The changes in the carrying amount of goodwill reported in our segments were as follows:
| Retirement | | Principal | | | | |||||||||
and Income | Asset | Benefits and | |||||||||||||
Solutions | Management | Protection | Corporate | Consolidated | |||||||||||
(in millions) | |||||||||||||||
Balance as of January 1, 2024 | $ | 675.9 | $ | 903.1 | $ | 29.5 | $ | — | $ | 1,608.5 | |||||
Goodwill from acquisitions (1) | 11.3 | — | — | — | 11.3 | ||||||||||
Foreign currency | — | (70.1) | — | — | (70.1) | ||||||||||
Balance as of December 31, 2024 | 687.2 | 833.0 | 29.5 | — | 1,549.7 | ||||||||||
Foreign currency | — | 50.8 | — | — | 50.8 | ||||||||||
Balance as of December 31, 2025 | $ | 687.2 | $ | 883.8 | $ | 29.5 | $ | — | $ | 1,600.5 | |||||
| (1) | Relates to the acquisition of employee stock ownership plan business from Ascensus within our Retirement and Income Solutions segment. |
Finite Lived Intangible Assets
Amortized intangible assets primarily relate to customer relationship intangibles associated with our acquisition of the Institutional Retirement & Trust business of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. and previous acquisitions in Chile, Mexico and Hong Kong. The finite lived intangible assets that continue to be subject to amortization over a weighted average remaining expected life of 14 years were as follows:
December 31, | ||||||
| 2025 | | 2024 | |||
(in millions) | ||||||
Gross carrying value | $ | 1,018.4 | $ | 1,157.9 | ||
Accumulated amortization |
| 515.7 | 523.1 | |||
Net carrying value | $ | 502.7 | $ | 634.8 | ||
On January 16, 2025, we announced the signing of an agreement with Bank Consortium Trust Company (“BCT”) to expand our investment management capabilities and exit our sponsor and trustee (pension) roles in Hong Kong for Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes (“MPF Schemes”) within the Principal Asset Management segment. BCT will be assuming the role as sponsor and trustee for the Principal MPF Schemes. The transaction is expected to close in 2026, subject to regulatory approval; however, certain transaction impacts were recognized in first quarter 2025. We impaired our distribution agreement intangible asset that will cease to exist, resulting in a $20.0 million loss reported in on our consolidated statements of operations. Additionally, our customer relationship intangible asset was written down to the expected value that will be received from this transaction, resulting in a $77.0 million loss reported in net realized capital gains (losses) on our consolidated statements of operations. We also recorded an impairment for contract costs from pension contracts. See Note 21, Revenues from Contracts with Customers, for further details.
During 2025 and 2024, we fully amortized other finite lived intangible assets of $56.6 million and $18.4 million, respectively.
The amortization expense for intangible assets with finite useful lives was $72.9 million, $66.1 million and $68.6 million for 2025, 2024 and 2023, respectively. As of December 31, 2025, the estimated amortization expense for the next five years is as follows (in millions):
Year ending December 31: | | ||
2026 | $ | 50.3 | |
2027 | 50.0 | ||
2028 | 33.9 | ||
2029 | 32.5 | ||
2030 | 32.5 |
Indefinite Lived Intangible Assets
The net carrying amount of unamortized indefinite lived intangible assets was $764.3 million and $755.1 million as of December 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively. As of both December 31, 2025 and 2024, $608.0 million relates to investment management contracts associated with our acquisition of WM Advisors, Inc. in 2006. The remaining balance primarily relates to the trade name intangible associated with our acquisition of Administradora de Fondos de Pensiones Cuprum S.A. (“Cuprum”) in 2013.
Historical Timeline
| Fiscal Year | Filed | |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Feb 18, 2026 | Showing above |
| 2024 | Feb 19, 2025 | |
| 2023 | Feb 20, 2024 | |
| 2022 | Feb 16, 2023 | |
| 2021 | Feb 11, 2022 | |
| 2020 | Feb 12, 2021 | |
| 2019 | Feb 14, 2020 | |
| 2018 | Feb 13, 2019 | |
About Goodwill & Intangibles Disclosures
Goodwill and intangible asset disclosures reveal the premium paid in acquisitions and how management assesses whether that premium retains its value. Since goodwill is no longer amortized under US GAAP, the annual impairment test is the only mechanism that adjusts carrying values downward — making the assumptions behind that test critically important for investors.
Key signals: a history of goodwill impairments suggests management consistently overpays for acquisitions. Watch the gap between reporting unit fair value and carrying amount — when fair value exceeds carrying amount by less than 10-20%, a small decline in business performance could trigger a write-down. For finite-lived intangibles, examine useful life assumptions across customer relationships, technology, and trade names; aggressive estimates inflate near-term earnings. Compare total intangibles-to-total-assets ratios against peers to assess acquisition dependency. Rising goodwill as a percentage of equity can signal balance sheet fragility.