Principal Mutual Funds for Retirement Account

Find top Principal mutual funds for your retirement account. The mutual funds include Principal Global Real Estate Securities Fund, Principal LifeTime 2010 Fund, etc.

Principal Funds

Principal Financial Group (PFG) is a global financial services company.  It is offering a wide range of financial services including retirement solutions, insurance, investment, planning center, financial, and banking products. It offers mutual funds, annuities, saving accounts, and certificates of deposit (CDs) in its investment business. The mutual funds are offered from its Principal Funds arm.

Should you invest in your brokerage, retirement, or 401(k) account? Find my fund review below. Select the best funds for your investing account or long term account. I provide various aspects of review including fund performance, expense fee, sales load, etc.

The investment ad by Principal is as follows:

We won the awards. 

You got the results. 

Lipper Fund Awards 2013 United States 

Top Asset Class 

Best Mixed-Asset Fund Manager over the 3-year period 

Among 40 Firms in the Large Company Category 

Top Individual Funds 

Principal Global Real Estate Securities Fund – Class I (POSIX)
Best Global Real Estate Fund over the 5-year period

Principal LifeTime 2010 Fund – Class I (PTTIX)
Best Mixed-Asset Target 2010 Fund over the 3-year period 

Principal LifeTime 2015 Fund – Class I (LTINX)
Best Mixed-Asset Target 2015 Fund over the 3-year period 

Principal Funds – We’ll Give You An Edge 

Principal LifeTime 2010 and 2015 target-date funds are managed toward a particular target (retirement) date, or the approximate date an investor starts withdrawing money. As a Principal LifeTime Fund approaches the target date, the investment mix becomes more conservative. The asset allocation for each Principal LifeTime Fund is regularly readjusted within a time frame that extends 10-15 years beyond the target date, at which point it reaches its most conservative allocation. The fund is not guaranteed at any time, including the target date. Investment risk remains at all times.
To learn more, visit principalfunds.com/lipper

Principal Global Real Estate Securities Fund

The investment objective of this Principal Global Real Estate Fund is to generate a total return. The total net assets of this POSIX fund are $1.9 billion. It has annual expense ratio of 0.92% and the dividend yield is 2.33%.

This top mutual fund uses Mid Blend investment style. It has 5-stars rating from Morningstar analysts. The YTD return is 6.49%. The performance of this real estate fund based on the load adjusted returns is as below:

• 1-year: 4.43%
• 3-year: 9.30%
• 5-year: 24.04%

The top portfolio holdings as of March 2014 are Simon Property Group, Inc (5.9%), Mitsubishi Estate Company, Limited (3.6%) and Mitsui Fudosan Co, Ltd (3.3%). The top property type is Diversified (27%), Retail (20%) and Office & Industrial (18%).

Principal LifeTime 2010 Fund

Morningstar analysts rank this PTTIX fund with 4-stars and Neutral rating. It has annual expense ratio of 0.67%. The total net assets are $1.6 billion. Its yield is 1.99%. The investment objective of this Principal LifeTime 2010 Fund is to provide total return consisting of long-term growth of capital and current income.

This mutual fund has recorded 10 years of positive return since the inception in 2001, with the best 1-year total return in 2009. The fund has 5-year annualized return of 7.14% and 10-year annualized return of 5.30%. It has returned 10.93% in 2013 and 12.04% in 2012. you can buy from your brokerage.

Principal LifeTime 2015 Fund

The Principal LifeTime 2015 Fund’s investment seeks a total return consisting of long-term growth of capital and current income. The fund was incepted in February 2008. It has $1.0 billion of total net assets. It also has 0.69% annual expense ratio. Jeffrey Tyler is the current fund manager.

More: Best Principal Mutual Funds

This best Mixed-Asset Target 2015 Fund has 5-stars and Natural rating from Morningstar. This Principal Fund has YTD return of 1.85%. The fund’s 5-year annualized return is 13.43%. And since the inception in 2008, the fund has always returned positively. The highest was in 2009 with 24.82% and the lowest was in 2011 (0.01%).

Money Advice

• Choose target date mutual funds if you are passive investors.
• Find low expense ratio fee mutual funds and good fund’s manager.