Principal Global Investors publishes a number of timely newsletters and research reports that discuss the impact of economic, political and investment trends on stocks, bonds and real estate investments. These publications are written by our in-house investment experts, including our chief global economist, Bob Baur. Here you can find regular Economic Insights and Real Estate Insights newsletters, as well as quarterly and annual real estate reports. Our knowledge center includes the popular “Case For” series on specific asset types, as well as other thought capital.

Economic and Market Commentary	Published
Preferred Securities Update (52 KB) This bulletin takes a look at the impact of the current market turmoil on preferred securities.	Oct 07 2008
Economic Rescue (53 KB) What a month! Not a week has passed without a momentous event. Fannie and Freddie are put in a government conservatorship. The venerable investment bank Lehman files for bankruptcy and the government takes over the world’s largest insurer, AIG.	Oct 01 2008
Quarterly Economic Insights - 3Q 2008 (365 KB) What a month! Not a week has passed without a momentous event. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are put in a government conservatorship. The venerable investment bank, Lehman, files for bankruptcy and the government takes over the world’s largest insurer, AIG. But that’s not enough.	Sep 30 2008
Weekly Economic Insights - September 29 - October 3, 2008 (237 KB) After years of over borrowing and irresponsible lending, global financial institutions have found themselves with deteriorating balance sheets, and hence a need for capital.	Sep 29 2008
Comprehensive Intervention (50 KB) Following a series of incremental steps to shore up the financial markets, the U.S. Government is now taking a comprehensive, systemic approach to the problem.	Sep 24 2008
The Takeover of AIG (43 KB) Capping 10 tumultuous days that have begun to remake the U.S. financial system, the U.S. Government is temporarily taking over control of America’s largest insurance company, American International Group (AIG).	Sep 24 2008
Lehman Bankruptcy - Equities (43 KB) The credit crisis has sealed the fate of two financial services giants and put in question the fate of a third. Yesterday, Lehman Brothers filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection under the weight of $60 billion in soured real estate holdings after failing to find a buyer.	Sep 16 2008

Research	Published
Liability Driven Investments (LDI) White Paper (November 2006) (258 KB) The phrase "liability driven investments" is a general term that encompasses a broad range of investment strategies that explicitly reference the liabilities of a plan sponsor. In a gross sense, assets areconfigured, to some degree, with an eye to matching some of the cash-flow and risk characteristics of the plan liabilities. The prime objective of liability driven investment schemes is to reduce the mismatch between the duration, or interest rate sensitivity, of plan liabilities relative to plan assets.	Oct 09 2008
Real Estate Insights 2Q 2008 (265 KB) The advance estimate of 2nd quarter GDP growth came in at 1.9%. This was up from the revised downward 0.9% growth rate for the 1st quarter.	Aug 08 2008
Real Estate Special Edition June 2008 (July 1, 2008) (469 KB) Credit Default Swaps and their Application in Commercial Real Estate Portfolios	Jul 01 2008
Case For Global Property Securities (344 KB) Investors worldwide are increasingly embracing cross-border real estate investments. In recent years, governments across the globe have opened their real estate markets by enabling more tax efficient investment vehicles and this trend is continuing.	Jun 30 2008
U.S. Property Account Performance Report 2Q08 (476 KB) Higher required rates of return and a re-pricing of risk led to write downs within the U.S. Property Account during the second quarter. Fund level performance registered a total return of -0.75%, while property level performance (which excludes the effects of cash and leverage among other balance sheet considerations) was -0.39%.	Jun 30 2008
US Property Acct Flash Report 2Q 2008 - June 30, 2008 (221 KB) The U.S. Property Account ended the second quarter with a total return of -0.8%.A positive income return of 1.1% was more than offset by value decreases resulting in depreciation of -1.9% for the quarter.	Jun 30 2008
Global - Investment Grade CMBS (219 KB) The real estate fixed income market has gone from being “priced to perfection” to a market that is priced to a “severe downturn”. While this shift has roots on both the fundamental and technical sides, it is our feeling that the market technicals currently in play have been the driving force behind much of the spread widening across the full spectrum of CMBS, and to a lesser extent, private mortgages. CMBS has been swept up in the broader turmoil of the global credit markets.	May 19 2008
Global - Case for Preferred Securities (249 KB) Often called hybrid securities, preferred investments may in many ways be more attractive to investorsthan either traditional equity or debt instruments. Preferred securities are generally one of the highest yielding investment grade securities.	May 15 2008
Real Estate Insights 1Q 2008 (May 2008) (298 KB) Whether the economy is officially in a recession is something that we won’t know until later, but there is no denying that economic growth has slowed significantly and to many sectors of the economy it feels very much like a recession.	May 12 2008
Flight to Quality (April 29, 2008) (263 KB) Since July of 2007, the credit markets have witnessed an unprecedented flight to quality, or more appropriately, a flight to Treasuries, as the erosion in subprime mortgages precipitated severe risk aversion and a scramble to protect portfolios. The degree of unprecedented leverage in the fixed income markets further accentuated and magnified the fundamental issues in the mortgage industry.	Apr 29 2008
Global - Flight to Quality (263 KB) Since July of 2007, the credit markets have witnessed an unprecedented flight to quality, or more appropriately, a flight to Treasuries, as the erosion in subprime mortgages precipitated severe risk aversion and a scramble to protect portfolios. The degree of unprecedented leverage in the fixed income markets further accentuated and magnified the fundamental issues in the mortgage industry.	Apr 29 2008
Case for CMBS - Insurance Advisory Group (April 2008) (196 KB) In the current volatile credit market, insurers are having difficulty finding yield enhancement opportunities that have a relatively high likelihood of principal protection. For those insurance companies, commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) may offer a solution…	Apr 28 2008
Investment Grade CMBS (April 2008) (200 KB) Principal Real Estate Investors has the ability to offer select institutional investors access to the Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities marketplace, with expertise in analyzing supporting loan collateral and its proprietary CMBS modeling capabilities.	Apr 28 2008
Why CMBS Today - Insurance Advisory Group (April 2008) (148 KB) Despite the risks associated with an economic slowdown, real estate sector deleveraging and continuing capital markets volatility, we believe that investment yields for some CMBS bonds are wider than the underlying risk would indicate…	Apr 28 2008
Global - Credit Market Crisis & Economic Downturn (April 2008) (560 KB) The significant volatility in the global credit markets that began in mid-2007 continued, and in some ways intensified, throughout much of the first quarter of 2008.	Apr 23 2008
Credit Market Crisis and Economic Downturn (April 2008) (556 KB) The significant volatility in the global credit markets that began in mid-2007 continued, and insome ways intensified, throughout much of the first quarter of 2008. Recognizing that traditional approaches to monetary policy were proving insufficient to produce market stability, the Federal Reserve took several extraordinary and innovative steps intended to restore liquidity and functionality to U.S. credit markets.	Apr 17 2008
CMBS Program Parameters (March 2008) (60 KB) Principal Real Estate Investors recommends development of a core CMBS strategy with investments ranging from junior classes if AAA rated CMBS to select issues in the BBB range which has the potential to optimize returns while taking “investment grade” risk…	Apr 14 2008
Real Estate Investment Trusts vs Direct-Owned Commercial Real Estate-April 2008 (152 KB) Principal Real Estate Securities Separate Account invests in stocks of companies which own real estate, thus providing investors with an indirect interest in real estate. Meanwhile, Prinicipal US Property Account Separate Account has direct ownership of office, retail, industrial and multi-family buildings.	Mar 31 2008
U.S. Property Account Flash Report 1Q08 (219 KB) The U.S. Property Account posted a total propertylevel return of 1.11% comprised of 1.16% income and-0.06% appreciation....	Mar 31 2008
Real Estate Insights - Special Edition, March 2008 (563 KB) Developments in investment management and asset allocation strategies over the last decadeclearly suggest that commercial real estate is well recognized as a distinct asset class. It is highlysought after for its high current yields, attractive total returns and strong diversification benefits.Evidence supporting these claims continues to grow, and this has translated into strong capitalflows and investment activity.	Mar 18 2008
U.S. Property Account Annual Report 2007 (8792 KB) The Principal U.S. Property Account continued progress on many strategic fronts in 2007, while generating competitive nominal and relative investment performance. The total gross return for the Account was 14.7% for the year, with strong appreciation continuing for the private real estate equity asset class.	Mar 06 2008
Alpha Dynamics (193 KB) Discusses two variability statistics, coverage ratio and active share ratio, and their usefulness in several practical applications.	Dec 31 2007
U.S. Property Account Flash Report 4Q07 (203 KB) Office and multi-family sector performance led returns within the U.S. Property Account during the fourth quarter.	Dec 31 2007
U.S. Guide to Preferred Securities (August 2007) (192 KB) The profile of preferred securities has been rising around the world, but they are still not widely known or understood. The purpose of this guide is to provide the reader with greater knowledge of these instruments, while offering some background to the market and illustrating why they might be useful from an investor’s point of view.	Aug 31 2007