Renee Schaaf

Renee Schaaf, a retired executive of Principal, a Fortune 500 company, has extensive leadership experience in the health insurance, retirement savings and income solutions industries.

Schaaf joined Principal in 1980. She began her career as a group health insurance underwriter and over her forty-two-year career with Principal, she advanced to lead large, multi-disciplinary teams with accountability for top and bottom-line results. In 2010, she oversaw the company’s exit from the health insurance marketplace. She then transitioned to Principal International, and as Chief Operating Officer, worked with teams throughout Asia and Latin America to advance in-country businesses. In 2019, she became president of Retirement and Income Solutions, a division focused on the US retirement markets, where she oversaw the successful integration of the Wells Fargo Institutional Retirement and Trust business acquisition. She served in that role until her retirement in 2022.

Schaaf earned her bachelor's of science degree from Iowa State University and her Master's of Business Administration degree from Drake University. She also completed the Global Advanced Management Program from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.

Schaaf serves on the Board of Directors for Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield. She is a past member of the United Way of Central Iowa Board of Directors and serves on the Economic Opportunity Committee for United Way of Central Iowa. She is also a court appointed special advocate, advocating for children who are deemed a “Child In Need of Assistance” and who have been removed from the home.