Principal Financial Group Inc

Good morning and welcome to the Principal Financial Group Third Quarter 2025 Financial Results Conference Call. There will be a question and answer period after the speakers have completed their prepared remarks. To ask a question during the session, you'll need to press star 1-1 on your telephone. To withdraw your question, please press star 1-1 again. We would ask that you be respectful of others and limit yourself to one question and a follow-up so we can get through everyone in the queue. I would now like to turn the conference over to Humphrey Lee, Vice President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Thank you and good morning. Welcome to Principal Financial Group's third quarter 2025 earnings conference call. As always, materials related to today's call are available on our website at investors.principal.com. Following a reading of the Safe Harbor provision, CEO Deanna Schrebel and CFO Joel Pitts will deliver prepared remarks. We will then open the call for questions. Members of senior management are also available for Q&A. Some of the comments made during this conference call may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. The company does not revise or update them to reflect new information, subsequent events, or changes in strategy. risks and certainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied are discussed in the company's most recent annual report on Form 10-K filed by the company with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Additionally, some of the comments made during this conference call may refer to non-GAAP financial measures. Reconciliations of the non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable U.S. GAAP financial measures may be found in our earnings release financial supplement, and slides presentation. Deanna?

Thanks, Humphrey, and good morning to everyone on the call. This morning, I'll discuss our strong third quarter performance and the continued execution of our strategy, focused on delivering sustained growth across our diversified businesses. Joel will then provide additional details on our financial results and capital position. Turning to slide two, our third quarter results build on the momentum of the first half of the year and demonstrate another period of strong performance toward our financial targets. We delivered 13% adjusted earnings per share growth year over year and 14% year to date above our target range. Our return on equity expanded significantly the last year and is now at the high end of our target range. and our year-to-date free capital flow conversion ratio of over 90% is tracking above target. Additionally, we returned $400 million of capital to shareholders in the quarter, including $225 million of share repurchases. We also raised our common stock dividend for the ninth consecutive quarter, an 8% increase on both a quarterly and full-year basis. These results were driven by strong business fundamentals across the company, including enterprise net revenue growth of 4%, margin expansion of 180 basis points, and positive enterprise net cash flow. Given the strong performance through the first three quarters and our business momentum, we fully expect to deliver on our full year enterprise financial targets. Moving to slide three, we continue to make progress on our strategic priorities highlighted at our 2024 Investor Day. As a reminder, we're focused on three significant profit pools where we are uniquely positioned to win. The broad retirement ecosystem, small and mid-sized businesses, and global asset management. Let's start with the retirement ecosystem in which we offer a comprehensive suite of capabilities across record keeping, asset management, wealth management, and income solutions. We're seeing strong momentum across key metrics. Workplace savings and retirement solutions, or WSRS transfer deposits, grew 13% year over year, demonstrating the strength of our retirement record keeping platform and the breadth of our distribution reach. We're serving an increasing number of participants, and the participants we serve are saving more. This is evidenced by a 3% increase in the number of participants deferring into their retirement plans compared to the year-ago quarter, with average deferrals up 2%. Total RIS sales of $7 billion increased 8% year-over-year, with strong growth in WSRS and pension risk transfer. On a year-to-date basis, nearly one-third of our PRT premiums came from existing defined benefit clients. Additionally, nearly half of our year-to-date non-qualified life insurance sales are part of a total retirement solution with RIS. Our retirement investment expertise, an important growth driver within the retirement ecosystem, continues to gain traction with third-party retirement platforms, as evidenced by DCIO sales of $2 billion in the quarter. These connections within and across businesses demonstrate our power across retirement and reinforce our unique competitive advantage in delivering retirement solutions to employers and their employees. Moving to our small and mid-sized business segment, our differentiated capabilities and deep expertise in this attractive segment continues to drive results. WSRS SMB recurring deposits grew 8% and transfer deposits increased 27% compared to the year-ago quarter. In benefits and protection, our business continues to show growth and resiliency. Employment growth for our block was nearly 2% on a trailing 12-month basis and we're seeing continued success in deepening relationships. Based on our latest insights, employee retention remains a top priority for small business owners and executives, and we're well positioned to help them achieve their goals with our comprehensive suite of solutions. In global asset management, we're generating strong momentum with gross sales and investment management of $32 billion, up 19% year over year. Revenue on these sales is up even more. Our private markets capabilities remain attractive to clients globally, generating net inflows of $1.7 billion in the quarter. Private's AUM grew 9% year over year as strong demand continues across our real estate, infrastructure, and private credit strategies. Additionally, our ETF business delivered net inflows of $500 million in the quarter and $1.3 billion year to date. These results reflect the strength of our diversified business mix across asset class, geography, and client base. Looking across our three long-term strategic focus areas, I'm encouraged by the momentum. The breadth of our retirement solutions, our leadership position in serving small and mid-sized businesses, and our expanding global asset management capabilities create multiple paths for sustained growth. These competitive advantages, combined with our integrated business model and strong execution, position us well to capitalize on the significant opportunities ahead, while creating value for our customers, shareholders, and employees. Before I turn this over to Joel, I want to acknowledge our recent release of the fourth annual Global Financial Inclusion Index, which tracks how governments, employers, and financial systems around the globe are advancing financial inclusion. Since the index launch, we've seen how digital solutions have emerged as a powerful driver of progress, helping people make informed choices and achieve greater financial security. Markets making the fastest gains are embracing fintech solutions that expand access while embedding financial education and safeguards. While current economic uncertainty has temporarily impacted employer financial inclusion programs, it's encouraging to see governments and financial systems stepping up. The findings highlight the tremendous opportunities ahead and reinforce our important mission to help people feel more confident in their financial decisions. Joel?