4 Minutes - Read Now 
Ethisphere’s Compliance Leader Verification recognizes organizations with an outstanding commitment to achieving a best-in-class ethics and compliance program
Scottsdale, AZ – March 26, 2026 – Ethisphere®, a global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices, announced today that Principal Financial Group® has earned the coveted Compliance Leader Verification for 2025 and 2026.
Principal® is a global financial services company that provides specialized solutions designed to help individuals, businesses, and institutions achieve long‑term financial goals and strengthen financial security. With an integrated business model spanning Retirement, Asset Management, and Benefits and Protection, Principal delivers holistic and customizable offerings to more than 75 million customers across more than 80 markets worldwide.
“Congratulations to Principal for achieving Compliance Leader Verification recognition,” said Eric Jorgenson, Director Data & Services at Ethisphere. “During the course of our engagement, we were able to witness a strong commitment by the entire team at Principal to ensure a robust ethics and compliance program—both operationally and culturally. Equally impressive, we saw firsthand that if there was an area for improvement, the Principal team didn’t hesitate. They assessed the problem, put together a plan, and ensured it was promptly addressed.”
“At Principal, we believe that strong ethics and compliance practices are foundational to earning the trust of our customers, employees, and communities,” said Noreen Fierro, Senior Vice President, Enterprise Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer. “This recognition reflects the dedication of our teams across the organization who work every day to embed integrity into decision making. We are proud of this achievement and remain committed to advancing our ethics and compliance program.”
The Compliance Leader Verification process involves a rigorous review of an ethics and compliance program and corporate culture. It includes completing the Ethics Quotient® (EQ), a questionnaire covering the elements of an effective program; benchmarking program practices against the World’s Most Ethical Companies®; and extensive document review and interviews with executives and stakeholders. Principal also chose to conduct an Ethical Culture survey to assess employee perceptions across eight pillars of an ethical culture.
The performance of Principal was evaluated on six key areas: program resources and structure; perceptions of ethical culture; written standards; training and communication; risk assessment, monitoring and auditing; and enforcement, discipline, and incentives.
More information about Compliance Leader Verification is available at https://ethisphere.com/what-we-do/leader-verification/
About Ethisphere
Ethisphere is the global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices that fuel corporate character, marketplace trust, and business success. Ethisphere has deep expertise in measuring and defining core ethics standards using data-driven insights that help companies enhance corporate character. Ethisphere honors superior achievement through its World’s Most Ethical Companies recognition program, provides a community of industry experts with the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance™ (BELA), and showcases trends and best practices in ethics with Ethisphere Magazine. Ethisphere also helps to advance business performance through data-driven assessments, benchmarking, and guidance. Learn more about Ethisphere at https://www.ethisphere.com.
About Principal Financial Group
Principal Financial Group® (Nasdaq: PFG) is a global financial company with approximately 19,000 employees1 passionate about improving the wealth and well-being of people and businesses. In business for 146 years, we’re helping over 75 million customers1 plan, insure, invest, and retire, while working to support the communities where we do business, and building an inclusive workforce. Principal® is proud to be recognized as one of the 2026 World’s Most Ethical Companies2 and named as a “Best Places to Work in Money Management3.” Learn more about Principal and our commitment to building a better future at principal.com.
1 As of December 31, 2025
2 Ethisphere, 2026
3 Pensions & Investments, 2025
###
Media Contact
Bill Coffin
[email protected]
Author Bio
Bill Coffin | Editor-in-Chief, Ethisphere Magazine, Ethisphere
Bill Coffin is the Editor-in-Chief of Ethisphere Magazine and supports the larger content strategy of Ethisphere. He is an internationally recognized writer and editorial leader in the fields of ethics, compliance, insurance and risk management. His work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, Forbes and Fortune, as well as Compliance Week, National Underwriter, Risk Management, Best’s Review and other B2B media. Previously, Bill served as Director, Senior Editor at AIG, leading content strategy for one of the world’s largest insurance companies.
