Principal Insurance looking quietly confident

Principal Insurance is new to Asia having opened its Hong Kong office in 1994 with managing director Rex Auyeung as a one-man band. Its confidence lies in its US parent, which has over 60 years of experience in the US pensions business with a strong foothold over 401K plans. Principal made a global profit of $710 million in 2001, helping to back up talk of expansion and acquisition in Asia.