Initial public offerings were one tough sell in the weeks after 9/11. So Principal Financial Group scored a coup with its October 23, 2001, IPO. The Des Moines, Iowabased insurer's shares started the day at $18.50 and closed at $21.
"Given the turbulence in the markets, we were very pleased with our price," recalls J. Barry Griswell, the CEO of Principal, which the market valued at $6.7 billion. Like other demutualizing insurers, Principal wanted greater access to capital, but Griswell also cites the benefits of a heightened corporate profile. "We thought, quite frankly, that there was a branding issue," he says. "As a public company, you're on people's radar screens."
Principal is certainly on those screens now, and much of the credit goes to the man Griswell hired not long after the IPO to revitalize the insurer's sluggish investment arm. The heart of the CEO's strategy...
