Principal Financial Group (NYSE: PFG) reported Q4 EPS of $1.27, $0.12 better than the analyst estimate of $1.15.

Assets under management (AUM) of $591.6 billion, up 12 percent on a trailing twelve month basis, reflecting $19.4 billion in net cash flows and strong investment performance

“I’m very pleased with our results for fourth quarter and the full year. Reflecting strong sales and client retention, we generated $19.4 billion in net cash flows in 2016. We also increased assets under management by more than $64 billion or 12 percent during the year, creating solid earnings momentum going into 2017,” said Dan Houston, chairman, president and CEO. “Throughout 2016, we continued to deliver strong investment performance, to expand our solution set, and to strengthen relationships with customers and distributors. Our diversified business model is a differentiator and will continue to serve us well moving into 2017.”

“For 2016 we had both record net income and record operating earnings of $1.3 billion. Excluding the impact of our annual assumption reviews this is an 11 percent and 15 percent, respectively, increase over 2015,” added Terry Lillis, chief financial officer. “We achieved these results through growth in revenue and, equally as important, disciplined expense management. In addition, we continue to have a balanced approach to capital deployment with a focus on creating long-term shareholder value. We deployed over 65 percent of net income including over $720 million to shareholders in the form of common stock dividends and share buybacks and a successful $94 million debt reduction with our fourth quarter 2016 debt refinancing.”

For earnings history and earnings-related data on Principal Financial Group (PFG) click here.