1,034: From Earnings Growth to Long-Term Success: A CFO’s Strategic Shift | Deanna Strable, COO & president (CFO emerita), Principal Financial Group

When Deanna Strable was approached to take on the role of CFO at Principal Financial Group, she was taken by surprise. Having spent most of her 30-year career in leading business units rather than focusing on finance, Strable initially questioned whether she was the right fit for a position traditionally held by financial experts.

“Ultimately,” she recalls, “what I learned from our board and CEO was that they really wanted someone who could partner with them in driving the company forward—someone who had the ability, obviously, not only to understand the financials but also to be able to do so within the context of appreciating and analyzing how the day-to-day impact of our operations on our financials related to our long-term strategy.”

This blend of operational insight and financial expertise would come to define her tenure as CFO. Over her 7 years in the role, she led the company through significant strategic shifts. Under her leadership, Principal exited underperforming and commoditized businesses, such as retail annuities and individual life insurance. These moves were part of a broader plan to focus the company on areas with greater long-term-growth potential, including retirement solutions and asset management.

Strable also reshaped the company’s financial priorities, moving beyond a narrow focus on earnings growth to a broader set of metrics, including return on equity, capital allocation, and customer satisfaction. Her emphasis on optimizing multiple metrics, rather than chasing short-term financial gains, helped to lay the groundwork for sustainable success. Strable’s career journey as CFO was a testament to the power of strategic thinking in driving both financial and long-term business growth.