Principal Real Estate Investors Acquires Montgomery Washington Tower

Principal Real Estate Investors, the fourth largest institutional real estate manager in the United States, announces the acquisition of Montgomery Washington Tower, a 270,000 square-foot, class A office building located in the heart of San Francisco’s financial district. Principal Real Estate Investors is acquiring the office portion of the 27-story tower.

"The acquisition of Montgomery Washington Tower is in line with our strategy to buy high quality real estate at this point in the cycle,” said Mark Hanrahan, managing director at Principal Real Estate Investors. "Its ideal location within San Francisco’s financial district and its close proximity to mass transit are just a couple of the highlights of what we think is an attractive investment.”

Principal Real Estate Investors is the dedicated real estate group of Principal Global Investors, a diversified asset management organization and a member of the Principal Financial Group^®.

About Principal Real Estate Investors:
Principal Real Estate Investors is the fourth largest institutional real estate manager in the United States based on tax-exempt assets under management¹ and manages or subadvises $34.1 billion in commercial real estate assets. The firm’s real estate capabilities include both public and private equity and debt investment alternatives. Principal Real Estate Investors is the dedicated real estate group of Principal Global Investors, a diversified asset management organization and a member of the Principal Financial Group^®.

For Principal Global Investors:
Principal Global Investors is a diversified asset management organization and a member of the Principal Financial Group^®, with expertise in equities, fixed income and real estate investments, as well as specialized overlay and advisory services. Principal Global Investors manages $227.4 billion in assets primarily for retirement plans and other institutional clients.*

About the Principal Financial Group
The Principal Financial Group^® (The Principal ^®)² is a leader in offering businesses, individuals and institutional clients a wide range of financial products and services, including retirement and investment services, life and health insurance, and banking through its diverse family of financial services companies. A member of the Fortune 500, the Principal Financial Group has $305.7 billion in assets under management³ and serves some 18.9 million customers worldwide from offices in Asia, Australia, Europe, Latin America and the United States. Principal Financial Group, Inc. is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol PFG. For more information, visit www.principal.com.

¹ The 4^th largest manager of real estate, ranked by U.S. institutional tax-exempt real estate assets, out of 99 managers profiled, as of June 30, 2009 "Real Estate Managers.” PENSIONS & INVESTMENTS, Oct. 19, 2009.

*As of September 30, 2010. Principal Global Investors is the asset management arm of the Principal Financial Group ® (The Principal ®)¹ and includes the asset management operations of the following subsidiaries of The Principal: Principal Global Investors, LLC; Principal Real Estate Investors, LLC; Spectrum Asset Management, Inc.; Post Advisory Group, LLC; Columbus Circle Investors; Edge Asset Management, Inc.; Morley Financial Services Inc.; Principal Global Investors (Europe) Limited; Principal Global Investors (Singapore) Ltd.; Principal Global Investors (Australia) Ltd.; Principal Global Investors (Japan) Ltd.; Principal Global Investors (Hong Kong) Ltd.; and the majority owned affiliates of Principal International, Inc.

² "The Principal Financial Group" and "The Principal” are registered service marks of Principal Financial Services, Inc., a member of the Principal Financial Group.

³ As of Sept. 30, 2010.