Principal Asset Management names Brant Wong head of retirement solutions

Principal is sharpening its focus on the retirement savings space as it taps a decades-long leader from a Wall Street rival for a newly created position.

The firm announced that its investment solutions business, Principal Asset Management, has appointed Brant Wong as its first-ever head of retirement solutions.

Wong, a nearly 30-year industry veteran, previously led retirement platforms at JPMorgan Asset Management and will now oversee the Principal’s efforts to develop products tailored to the evolving needs of retirement plan sponsors and participants.

“Principal is focused on building investment solutions designed to support Americans as they continue to reshape the ways they think about and plan for retirement,” Kamal Bhatia, president and CEO of Principal Asset Management, said in a statement Thursday. “In this new position, Brant will play a key role in our retirement investment product strategy across the asset management and US retirement businesses at Principal, further ensuring we are continually connecting client needs with product innovation.”

At JPMorgan, Wong spent 23 years leading retirement strategy, platforms, and national accounts. His career also includes time at McKinsey and Company. In his new role at Principal, he will lead a team leveraging the firm’s investment capabilities and experience in retirement planning.

“As individual Americans plan for their ideal retirement scenarios, they put their trust in established retirement investment providers who can help them feel confident in their investment choices and the adequacy of their retirement income,” Wong said. “I’m proud to be joining Principal, which is one of a few firms with expertise and service along an individual’s full investment journey and are well poised to continue to develop new and innovative solutions to meet their needs.”

Principal Asset Management oversees nearly $320 billion in retirement assets under management. The firm has recently expanded its suite of target date funds, including the Principal LifeTime Strategic Index CITs, which integrate investment and insurance capabilities at a lower-cost structure.

According to one estimate by Morningstar, the US target-date fund market represented $3.5 trillion in AUM at the end of 2023, mostly split between the $1.76 trillion mutual fund segment and $1.71 trillion in collective investment trusts. The top players in the space include a who's who of major asset managers such as Vanguard, Fidelity, T. Rowe Price, and BlackRock.

According to Principal, it was responsible for $86 billion in target date AUM as of March 2022.

Over the years, the firm has introduced options for greater personalization, such as a hybrid qualified default investment alternative that combines target date strategies with managed account services. In 2009, it claimed industry leadership with a first-of-its-kind hybrid target date strategy.

Principal Asset Management provides investment solutions for more than 1,100 institutional clients across over 80 markets. The firm operates as the global investment arm of Principal Financial Group, managing $559.1 billion in total assets.

Wong's appointment comes after another change at the top at Principal, which welcomed retirement industry veteran Deanna Strable as its new CEO, replacing Dan Houston. The recordkeeping giant first announced that transition in November.