The chief of a publicly traded insurer's $651-billion-AUM, 5,700-employee asset management arm is preparing to pass the reins and say goodbye.

Kamal Bhatia Principal Asset Management Incoming President and CEO

Today, Dan Houston, president and CEO of Principal Financial Group, confirms that Kamal Bhatia will take over as president and CEO of Principal Asset Management [profile] on February 10, succeeding Pat Halter. Halter will become division president, then he will retire from Principal on April 2.

Meanwhile, Bhatia will continue to serve as president of Principal Funds and and as chairman of the board for the funds, confirms a spokesperson for Principal. Bhatia also currently serves as Principal's global head of investments, and the spokesperson confirms that "investment leaders will continue to report to Bhatia for the time being." Bhatia will report to Houston, who also serves as Principal's chairman.

Patrick G. "Pat" Halter Principal Asset Management Outgoing President, CEO

Principal's AM team of more than 5,700 employees worldwide includes more than 850 investment professionals, the spokesperson confirms,

"Principal has specialized investment teams across public and private investment capabilities, multi-asset products, and retirement solutions to meet the needs of its institutional wealth, and retirement clients (including multi-asset & quant, equities, fixed income, real estate)," the spokesperson tells MFWire via email. "Investment products include: US mutual funds, ETFs, interval funds, SMAs, OCIO, and custom solutions."

Houston describes asset management as "a core growth driver for Principal and the investment engine behind the company's global retirement and benefits and protection business."

"We bring to bear our talent, expertise, and experience to deliver investment solutions and performance coupled with deep client understanding," Houston states. "I'm confident in Kamal's ability to continue to drive this business forward to meet the growing demand for investment solutions around the world, while navigating volatile market environments and evolving client needs."

Houston adds that Halter "has helped set the course for asset management at Principal for 40 years."

"His leadership in developing our real estate capabilities led to our expansion into international markets and made Principal the top 10 global real estate investment manager it is today," Houston states. "We're grateful for his steady hand and deep commitment to our clients and to building a best-in-class culture within our asset management organization."

Halter brought Bhatia to Principal in 2019 as president and CEO of Principal Funds. Bhatia rose to chief operating officer for Principal Global Investors in 2020, worked on the 2022 rebranding of PGI to Principal AM, and rose to global head of investments in 2023. Earlier, he led OppenheimerFunds' and Carlyle's joint venture and worked at TIAA, BNY Mellon, and Citi. He is an alumnus of Washington University in St. Louis and of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur.

Halter himself joined Principal back in 1984 in the commercial real estate business. In 2003 he rose to CEO of Principal Real Estate Investors, in 2016 he became COO of PGI, and in 2018 he took over as PGI's president and CEO. He is an alumnus twice over of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. 

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