Principal Wealth Group President and CEO Mike Woods Has a 27-Year Career in Financial Services

Who is your ideal client?

Our clients range from people who follow Dave Ramsey and are just getting started on a financial planning journey, to well-off retirees who have worked with us for decades. However, the clients we see the most lately are people with money in motion. They include people rolling over 401(k)s from a previous job, or someone who just inherited money, which we see monthly. They might also have found themselves with a large amount of money after a divorce. Often highly paid and highly successful, our clients are people who want help with the complexities of investing to grow wealth or create income at retirement.

Is your firm new?

Our firm has been in continuous operation for 54 years, but we’ve operated under several names as the company has grown. Founded in 1970, we became a corporation in 2006, rebranding to Principal Wealth Group in late 2023. I joined the company in 1997, and the organization has evolved over the years.

What is the makeup of your advisory team?

Great ideas come from having multi-generational advisors on the team. Right now, we have three generations on board. The present group comprises three women and two men. Myself and my business partner, Jared Ottmers, office in Denton along with my oldest daughter Megan, who plans to become the third-generational company owner. We also have offices near SMU and in Conroe, both of which are run by very successful women who joined our team as part of their growth and our eventual succession plans. Over the next couple of years, we will likely add a few more advisors.

Can you help people who want to make sure they are invested in index funds, or do you focus primarily on managed accounts?

People who only want to buy indexes don’t really need a firm like ours. Using a variety of strategies for our clients, we go above and beyond simply indexing, though passive indexing is a part of our strategy. We also use active management, and tactical computer-based trend-following strategies. All of these utilize a combination of ETFs, mutual funds, and individual stocks.

What are some aspects of wealth planning people would be surprised to learn about, besides investing in stocks and bonds?

We get asked about all types of things and can be very involved in people’s lives. We’ve recently helped shut down a scam being attempted on an elderly client, and we help widows or other single clients purchase vehicles after the loss of the spouse they previously relied on for help with those types of tasks. Clients often see us as their trusted “go-to” advisors because, in the end, so many questions tie back to money in one way or another.