Pros
Easy work, if you're on the right team. If you live in Des Moines, went to Iowa state, and never plan to aim higher in life, it's decent.
Cons
They fire people before they hit their vesting date, so don't expect to keep your pension or your 401(k) match. Treat them as $0. (This should be illegal). Don't expect raises or promotions unless you work in person in Des Moines and your boss is your friend's dad/mom. A surprising number college kids in the area get jobs and internships because their parent works here. The leadership has no vision. They are stuck 20 years in the past while their competitors crush them. Employees with nebulous titles like "agile delivery manager" who apparently don't do know or do anything at all get frequent promotions by being friends with the right people. Useless boomers are in charge who have all the authority and no actual responsibilities other than schmoozing in the office. The stock is stagnant, reflecting decades of poor management decisions. If you invest in the ESPP, sell it immediately when it appears in your account. All their competitors in asset management are gaining trillions of $ in AUM and Principal is flat during a huge stock market rally. (Principal fell 20+ places in AUM rankings in the last 5 or so years) Dimwitted managers slowly get rid of entire teams and then outsource the work overseas, causing a multi year cycle of confusion and chaos when it's inevitably on-shored again. Useless tech projects are used as ways to get promoted, but hurt the actual teams that have to use and maintain them. Tech leadership makes all decisions based on following trends in the tech industry, but with a 2-5 year lag. These decisions are completely useless and actually hurt the company in the long run. (Think AI and cloud projects). My remote coworkers all mysteriously disappeared in 2024. (fired) They are requiring more and more days in office. They were on the verge of requiring 5 days a week in office before I left. Principal owns the most valuable real estate in downtown Des Moines, which is also in their investment funds and is the reason for RTO. When we went to remote work during COVID-19, all the office space downtown was empty. Empty offices mean the value of the real estate declined, as it's directly correlated to how much rent you get. So RTO is a way for PFG to artificially prop up their own assets. Some of your coworkers can be good, but ultimately this company is very team dependent and can switch you to a horrible team at a moment's notice. If I had interviewed with the later teams I was on, I never would have accepted the offer. They won't hesitate to do a bait and switch and hire you for one team, then 6 months later move you to another one. Pay is low. You will make way more money at even startups these days. Pay is even lower when you consider most people will either leave or be laid off before their 3 year vesting date. Despite low pay, boomer management have a chip on their shoulder about anymore making more than what they made at your age ($30k/yr back in 1992) and be jealous if you make a poverty salary by California standards. Remember - "Unlimited" PTO is a scam. Depending on the team you work on, taking PTO will penalize you. You will be lucky to even get a 1% raise every year unless your salary is really, really low.
