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Nature of Operations and Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2020

Nature of Operations and Significant Accounting Policies

Basis of Presentation

The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (“PFG”) have been prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the U.S. (“U.S. GAAP”) for interim financial statements and with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X. In the opinion of management, all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring accruals) considered necessary for a fair presentation have been included. Operating results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2020, are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the year ended December 31, 2020, especially when considering the risks and uncertainties associated with the novel coronavirus ("COVID-19") and the impact it may have on our business, results of operations and financial condition. Our use of estimates and assumptions affect amounts reported and disclosed and includes, but is not limited to, the fair value of investments in the absence of quoted market values, investment impairments and valuation allowances, the fair value of derivatives, deferred acquisition costs ("DAC") and other actuarial balances, measurement of goodwill and intangible assets, the liability for future policy benefits and claims, the value of pension and other postretirement benefits and accounting for income taxes and the valuation of deferred tax assets. Our estimates and assumptions could change in the future as more information becomes known about the impact of COVID-19. Our results of operations and financial condition may also be impacted by evolving regulatory, legislative and standard-setter accounting interpretations and guidance.

These interim unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with our annual audited financial statements as of December 31, 2019, included in our Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019, filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). The accompanying condensed consolidated statement of financial position as of December 31, 2019, has been derived from the audited consolidated statement of financial position but does not include all of the information and footnotes required by U.S. GAAP for complete financial statements.

Consolidation - Policy

Consolidation

We have relationships with various special purpose entities and other legal entities that must be evaluated to determine if the entities meet the criteria of a variable interest entity (“VIE”) or a voting interest entity (“VOE”). This assessment is performed by reviewing contractual, ownership and other rights, including involvement of related parties, and requires use of judgment. First, we determine if we hold a variable interest in an entity by assessing if we have the right to receive expected losses and expected residual returns of the entity. If we hold a variable interest, then the entity is assessed to determine if it is a VIE. An entity is a VIE if the equity at risk is not sufficient to support its activities, if the equity holders lack a controlling financial interest or if the entity is structured with non-substantive voting rights. In addition to the previous criteria, if the entity is a limited partnership or similar entity, it is a VIE if the limited partners do not have the power to direct the entity’s most significant activities through substantive kick-out rights or participating rights. A VIE is evaluated to determine the primary beneficiary. The primary beneficiary of a VIE is the enterprise with (1) the power to direct the activities of a VIE that most significantly impact the entity's economic performance and (2) the obligation to absorb losses of the entity or the right to receive benefits from the entity that could potentially be significant to the VIE. When we are the primary beneficiary, we are required to consolidate the entity in our financial statements. We reassess our involvement with VIEs on a quarterly basis. For further information about VIEs, refer to Note 2, Variable Interest Entities.

If an entity is not a VIE, it is considered a VOE. VOEs are generally consolidated if we own a greater than 50% voting interest. If we determine our involvement in an entity no longer meets the requirements for consolidation under either the VIE or VOE models, the entity is deconsolidated. Entities in which we have management influence over the operating and financing decisions but are not required to consolidate, other than investments accounted for at fair value under the fair value option, are reported using the equity method.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements - Policy

Recent Accounting Pronouncements


Description			Date of adoption			Effect on our consolidated financial statements or other significant matters
Standards not yet adopted:

Description

Date of
adoption

Effect on our consolidated
financial statements or other
significant matters

Targeted improvements to the accounting for long-duration insurance contracts

This authoritative guidance updates certain requirements in the accounting for long-duration insurance and annuity contracts.

The assumptions used to calculate the liability for future policy benefits on traditional and limited-payment contracts will be reviewed and updated periodically. Cash flow assumptions will be reviewed at least annually and updated when necessary with the impact recognized in net income. Discount rate assumptions are prescribed as the current upper-medium grade (low credit risk) fixed income instrument yield and will be updated quarterly with the impact recognized in other comprehensive income (“OCI”).

Market risk benefits, which are certain market-based options or guarantees associated with deposit or account balance contracts, will be measured at fair value. The periodic change in fair value related to instrument-specific credit risk will be recognized in OCI while the remaining change in fair value will be recognized in net income.

DAC for all insurance and annuity contracts will be amortized on a constant basis over the expected term of the related contracts.

Additional disclosures are required, including disaggregated rollforwards of significant insurance liabilities and other account balances and disclosures about significant inputs, judgments, assumptions and methods used in measurement.

The guidance for the liability for future policy benefits for traditional and limited-payment contracts and DAC will be applied on a modified retrospective basis; that is, to contracts in force as of the beginning of the earliest period presented based on their existing carrying amounts. An entity may elect to apply the changes retrospectively. The guidance for market risk benefits will be applied retrospectively. Early adoption is permitted.

January 1,
2023, tentative

Our implementation and evaluation process to date includes, but is not limited to the following:

●

identifying and documenting contracts and contract features in scope of the guidance;

●

identifying the actuarial models, systems and processes to be updated;

●

evaluating and selecting our systems solutions for implementing the new guidance;

●

building models and evaluating preliminary output as models are developed;

●

evaluating our key accounting policies;

●

assessing the impact to our chart of accounts;

●

developing format and content of new disclosures;

●

evaluating transition requirements and impacts and

●

evaluating and establishing appropriate internal controls.

As we progress through our implementation, we will be able to better assess the impact to our consolidated financial statements; however, we expect this guidance to significantly change how we account for many of our insurance and annuity products.


Description	Date of adoption	Effect on our consolidated financial statements or other significant matters

Simplifying the accounting for income taxes This authoritative guidance simplifies the accounting for income taxes by removing certain exceptions, including exceptions related to the incremental approach for intraperiod tax allocation, calculating income taxes in an interim period and the recognition of deferred tax liabilities for outside basis differences. Also, the guidance clarifies the accounting for franchise taxes, transactions that result in a step-up in the tax basis of goodwill and enacted changes in tax laws or rates. It specifies that an entity is not required to allocate the consolidated amount of current and deferred tax expense to a legal entity that is not subject to tax in its separate financial statements, although an entity may elect to do so. The guidance will be applied based on varying transition methods defined by amendment. Early adoption is permitted.	January 1, 2021	We are currently evaluating the impact this guidance will have on our consolidated financial statements.

Standards adopted:
Facilitation of the effects of reference rate reform on financial reporting This authoritative guidance provides optional expedients and exceptions for contracts and hedging relationships affected by reference rate reform. An entity may elect not to apply certain modification accounting requirements to contracts affected by reference rate reform and instead account for the modified contract as a continuation of the existing contract. Also, an entity may apply optional expedients to continue hedge accounting for hedging relationships in which the critical terms change due to reference rate reform.This guidance eases the financial reporting impacts of reference rate reform on contracts and hedging relationships and is effective until December 31, 2022.	March 12, 2020	We adopted the guidance upon issuance prospectively and will continue to evaluate any effects on contracts and hedging relationships impacted by reference rate reform through December 31, 2022. The guidance did not have an impact on our consolidated financial statements upon adoption.


Description	Date of adoption	Effect on our consolidated financial statements or other significant matters
Goodwill impairment testing This authoritative guidance simplifies how an entity is required to test goodwill for impairment by eliminating Step 2 (which measures a goodwill impairment loss by comparing the implied fair value of a reporting unit’s goodwill to the carrying amount of that goodwill) from the goodwill impairment test. A goodwill impairment loss will be the amount by which a reporting unit’s carrying value exceeds its fair value, not to exceed the carrying amount of goodwill. Entities will continue to have the option to perform a qualitative assessment to determine if a quantitative impairment test is necessary. Early adoption is permitted.	January 1, 2020	This guidance reduces complexity and costs associated with performing a Step 2 test, should one be needed in the future. However, the impact of eliminating the Step 2 test from any such future impairment assessment will be dependent on modeling factors that are not currently determinable. This guidance did not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements at adoption.

Credit losses This authoritative guidance requires entities to use a current expected credit loss (“CECL”) model to measure impairment for most financial assets that are not recorded at fair value through net income. Under the CECL model, an entity will estimate lifetime expected credit losses considering available relevant information about historical events, current conditions and reasonable and supportable forecasts. The CECL model does not apply to available-for-sale debt securities. This guidance also expands the required credit loss disclosures.	January 1, 2020	We adopted the guidance using the modified retrospective approach. A cumulative effect adjustment of $8.4 million was recorded as a decrease to retained earnings. We recorded an offsetting increase in the allowance for credit loss for mortgage loans, reinsurance recoverables and commitments and a decrease for deferred tax impacts. See Note 3, Investments, for further details.

Implementation costs in a cloud computing arrangement that is a service contract This authoritative guidance aligns the requirements for capitalizing implementation costs incurred in a hosting arrangement that is a service contract with the requirements for capitalizing implementation costs incurred to develop or obtain internal-use software. This guidance can be applied either retrospectively or prospectively and early adoption is permitted.	January 1, 2019	The effective date of the guidance is January 1, 2020; however, we elected to early-adopt this guidance on a prospective basis, effective January 1, 2019. This guidance did not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.

When we adopt new accounting standards, we have a process in place to perform a thorough review of the pronouncement, identify the financial statement and system impacts and create an implementation plan among our impacted business units to ensure we are compliant with the pronouncement on the date of adoption. This includes having effective processes and controls in place to support the reported amounts. Each of the standards listed above is in varying stages in our implementation process based on its issuance and adoption dates. We are on track to implement guidance by the respective effective dates.

Loan modifications related to COVID-19 - Policy

Investments

Loan modifications related to COVID-19

Our commercial and residential mortgage loan portfolios can include loans that have been modified. We assess loan modifications on a case-by-case basis to evaluate whether a troubled debt restructuring ("TDR") has occurred. In response to COVID-19, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act ("CARES Act") provides a temporary suspension of TDR accounting for certain COVID-19 related loan modifications where the loan was not more than 30 days past due as of December 31, 2019. We elected the TDR relief in the CARES Act beginning in the second quarter of 2020. The CARES Act TDR relief does not apply to modifications completed subsequent to the earlier of 60 days after the national emergency related to COVID-19 ends, or December 31, 2020. In addition, the Interagency Statement on Loan Modifications and Reporting for Financial Institutions Working with Customers Affected by the Coronavirus (As Revised on April 7, 2020) ("Interagency Statement") provides additional guidance to determine if a short-term COVID-19 related loan modification is a TDR. We consider the CARES Act and the Interagency Statement when assessing loan modifications to determine whether a TDR has occurred. See Note 3, Investments, under the caption "Mortgage Loan Modifications" for further details.

Separate Accounts - Policy

Separate Accounts

The separate accounts are legally segregated and are not subject to the claims that arise out of any of our other business. The client, rather than us, directs the investments and bears the investment risk of these funds. The separate account assets represent the fair value of funds that are separately administered by us for contracts with equity, real estate and fixed income investments and are presented as a summary total within the consolidated statements of financial position. An equivalent amount is reported as separate account liabilities, which represent the obligation to return the monies to the client. We receive fees for mortality, withdrawal and expense risks, as well as administrative, maintenance and investment advisory services that are included in the consolidated statements of operations. Net deposits, net investment income and realized and unrealized capital gains and losses of the separate accounts are not reflected in the consolidated statements of operations.

Separate account assets and separate account liabilities include certain international retirement accumulation products where the segregated funds and associated obligation to the client are consolidated within our financial statements. We have determined that summary totals are the most meaningful presentation for these funds.

As of June 30, 2020 and December 31, 2019, the separate accounts included a separate account valued at $72.5 million and $100.4 million, respectively, which primarily included shares of our stock that were allocated and issued to eligible participants of qualified employee benefit plans administered by us as part of the policy credits issued under our 2001 demutualization. These shares are included in both basic and diluted earnings per share calculations. In the consolidated statements of financial position, the separate account shares are recorded at fair value and are reported as separate account assets with a corresponding separate account liability. Changes in fair value of the separate account shares are reflected in both the separate account assets and separate account liabilities and do not impact our results of operations.

Description

Date of
adoption

Effect on our consolidated
financial statements or other
significant matters

Nonemployee share-based payment accounting
This authoritative guidance simplifies the accounting for share-based payments to nonemployees by generally aligning it with the accounting for share-based payments to employees. Under the guidance, the measurement of equity-classified nonemployee awards will be fixed at the grant date, where previously the measurement was fixed at performance completion date. The guidance will be applied to equity-classified nonemployee awards for which a measurement date has not been established as of the date of adoption.

January 1,
2019

This guidance did not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.

Leases
This authoritative guidance requires lessee recognition of lease assets and lease liabilities on the balance sheet. The concept of an operating lease, where the lease assets and liabilities are off balance sheet, is eliminated under the new guidance. For lessors, the guidance modifies lease classification criteria and accounting for certain types of leases. Other key aspects of the guidance relate to the removal of the current real estate-specific guidance and new presentation and disclosure requirements. Lessees and lessors are required to recognize and measure leases using a modified retrospective approach, which includes certain optional practical expedients that may be elected. We elected the alternative transition method, which allows entities to initially apply the new standard at the adoption date and recognize a cumulative effect adjustment to the opening balance of retained earnings in the period of adoption.

January 1,
2019

We adopted the guidance using the modified retrospective approach. A cumulative effect adjustment of $4.0 million was recorded as an increase to retained earnings.