LargeCap S&P 500 Managed Volatility Index Account - Class 1 Shares

Principal Variable Contracts Funds, Inc. Summary Prospectus October 31, 2013

Before you invest, you may want to review the Account's prospectus, which contains more information about the Account and its risks. You can find the Account's prospectus and other information about the Account online at www.principalfunds.com/pvcprospectus. You can also get this information at no cost by calling 1-800-222-5852 or by sending an email request to prospectus@principalfunds.com.

This Summary Prospectus incorporates by reference the Statutory Prospectus dated October 31, 2013 and the Statement of Additional Information dated May 1, 2013 as amended and restated October 31, 2013 (which may be obtained in the same manner as the Prospectus).

Objective: The Account seeks long-term growth of capital, with an emphasis on managing volatility.

Fees and Expenses of the Account

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Account. These fees and expenses do not reflect the fees and expenses of any variable insurance contract that may invest in the Account and would be higher if they did.

Annual Account Operating Expenses

(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

	Class 1
Management Fees	0.45%
Other Expenses(1)	0.04%
Total Annual Account Operating Expenses	0.49%
Expense Reimbursement (2)	—
Total Annual Account Operating Expenses after Expense Reimbursement	0.49%
(1) Based on estimated expenses for the current fiscal year.
(2) Principal Management Corporation ("Principal"), the investment advisor, has contractually agreed to limit the Account’s expenses attributable to Class 1 shares by paying, if necessary, expenses normally payable by the Account, excluding interest expense, through the period ending April 30, 2015. The expense limit will maintain a total level of operating expenses (expressed as a percent of average net assets on an annualized basis) not to exceed 0.49% for Class 1 shares, excluding interest expense. It is expected that the expense limit will continue through the period disclosed; however, Principal Variable Contracts Funds, Inc. and Principal, the parties to the agreement, may agree to terminate the expense limit prior to the end of the period.

Page 1 of 3

Example

This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Account with the cost of investing in other mutual funds.

The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Account for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Account's operating expenses remain the same. If separate account expenses and contract level expenses were included, expenses would be higher. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

	Number of years you own your shares
	1	3
LargeCap S&P 500 Managed Volatility Index Account - Class 1	$50	$157

Portfolio Turnover

The Account pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs. These costs, which are not reflected in annual Account operating expenses or in the example, affect the Account's performance. This is a new Account and does not yet have a portfolio turnover rate to disclose.

Principal Investment Strategies

Under normal circumstances, the Account invests at least 80% of its net assets, plus any borrowings for investment purposes, in equity securities of companies that compose the S&P 500 Index at the time of each purchase. The Index is designed to represent U.S. equities with risk/return characteristics of the large cap universe. As of December 31, 2012, the market capitalization range of the Index was between approximately $1.6 billion and $499.7 billion. The Account uses derivative instruments. A derivative is a financial arrangement, the value of which is derived from, or based on, a traditional security, asset, or market index. In part, the Account employs a passive investment approach designed to attempt to track the performance of the Index. This portion of the Account also invests in index futures and exchange-traded funds ("ETFs") on a daily basis to gain exposure to the Index in an effort to minimize tracking error relative to the benchmark.

The Account also employs an active volatility management strategy that buys vertical put spreads and vertical call spreads on the S&P 500 Index, S&P 500 Index futures, and an S&P 500 Index ETF. Vertical spreads are the simultaneous purchase and sale of two options of the same type with the same expiration date but two different strike prices. The strike price is the fixed price at which the owner of the option can buy (in the case of a call), or sell (in the case of a put), the underlying security. This strategy seeks to produce gains regardless of the directional movement of the S&P 500 Index and mitigate volatility.

Note: “Standard & Poor's 500" and "S&P 500^®" are trademarks of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. and have been licensed by Principal. The Account is not sponsored, endorsed, sold, or promoted by Standard & Poor's and Standard & Poor's makes no representation regarding the advisability of investing in the Account.

Principal Risks

The Account may be an appropriate investment for investors seeking long-term growth of capital, willing to accept fluctuations in the value of investments, and interested in a predominately passive management style with some active management designed to reduce volatility.

The value of your investment in the Account changes with the value of the Account's investments. Many factors affect that value, and it is possible to lose money by investing in the Account. An investment in the Account is not a deposit of a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. The principal risks of investing in the Account, in alphabetical order, are:

Derivatives Risk. Transactions in derivatives may increase volatility, cause the liquidation of portfolio positions when not advantageous to do so and produce disproportionate losses.

Page 2 of 3

Equity Securities Risk. The value of equity securities could decline if the issuer's financial condition declines or in response to overall market and economic conditions. A fund's principal market segment(s), such as large cap, mid cap or small cap stocks, or growth or value stocks, may underperform other market segments or the equity markets as a whole. Investments in smaller companies and mid-size companies may involve greater risk and price volatility than investments in larger, more mature companies.

Exchange-Traded Funds ("ETFs") Risk. An ETF is subject to the risks associated with direct ownership of the securities comprising the index on which the ETF is based. Fund shareholders indirectly bear their proportionate share of the expenses of the ETFs in which the fund invests.

Index Fund Investment Risk. More likely than not, an index fund will underperform the index due to cashflows and the fees and expenses of the fund.

Risk of Being an Underlying Fund. A fund is subject to the risk of being an underlying fund to the extent that a fund of funds invests in the fund. An underlying fund of a fund of funds may experience relatively large redemptions or investments as the fund of funds periodically reallocates or rebalances its assets. These transactions may cause the underlying fund to sell portfolio securities to meet such redemptions, or to invest cash from such investments, at times it would not otherwise do so, and may as a result increase transaction costs and adversely affect underlying fund performance.

Volatility Management Risk.  Volatility management strategies may increase fund transaction costs, which could increase losses or reduce gains.  These strategies may not protect the fund from market declines and may reduce the fund's participation in market gains.

Performance

No performance is shown because the Account has not yet had a calendar year of performance. The Account's performance will be compared to the S&P 500 Index.

Management

Investment Advisor:    Principal Management Corporation

Sub-Advisor(s) and Portfolio Manager(s):

Principal Global Investors, LLC

• Thomas L. Kruchten (since 2013), Research Analyst and Portfolio Manager

Spectrum Asset Management, Inc.

• L. Phillip Jacoby, IV (since 2013), Chief Investment Officer and Back-up Portfolio Manager

• Manu Krishnan (since 2013), Vice President and Back-up Portfolio Manager

• Kevin Nugent (since 2013), Vice President and Primary Portfolio Manager

Tax Information

The Fund intends to comply with applicable variable asset diversification regulations. Taxation to you will depend on what you do with your variable life insurance or variable annuity contract. See your variable product prospectus for information about the tax implications of investing in the Accounts.

Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries

If you purchase the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank, insurance company, investment adviser, etc.), the Fund and its related companies may pay the intermediary for the sale of Fund shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. These payments may also create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your sales person to recommend one share class of the Fund over another share class, or to recommend one variable annuity, variable life insurance policy or mutual fund over another. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary's Web site for more information.

Page 3 of 3