Diversified Balanced Account (Prospectus Summary) | Diversified Balanced Account

Diversified Balanced Account

Objective:

The Account seeks to provide as high a level of total return (consisting of reinvested income and
capital appreciation) as is consistent with reasonable risk.

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)

Annual Fund Operating Expenses	Diversified Balanced Account Class 2
Management Fees	0.05%
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees	0.25%
Other Expenses	0.01%
Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses	0.25%
Total Annual Account Operating Expenses	0.56%

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:

Expense Example (USD $)	Expense Example, With Redemption, 1 Year	Expense Example, With Redemption, 3 Years	Expense Example, With Redemption, 5 Years	Expense Example, With Redemption, 10 Years
Diversified Balanced Account Class 2	57	179	313	701

Portfolio Turnover

As a fund of funds, the Account does not pay transaction costs, such as
commissions, when it buys and sells shares of underlying funds (or "turns over"
its portfolio). An underlying fund does pay transaction costs when it buys and
sells portfolio securities, and a higher portfolio turnover may indicate higher
transaction costs. These costs, which are not reflected in annual account
operating expenses or in the examples, affect the performance of the underlying
fund and the Account. During its most recent fiscal year, the Account's
portfolio turnover rate was 17.9% of the average value of its portfolio.

Principal Investment Strategies

The Account operates as a fund of funds and invests in underlying funds. In
pursuing its investment objective, the Account typically allocates its assets,
within predetermined percentage ranges, among the "underlying funds": Funds of
Principal Funds, Inc. ("PFI") (Institutional class shares) - the International
Equity Index, MidCap S&P 400 Index, and SmallCap S&P 600 Index Funds - and an
Account of Principal Variable Contracts Funds, Inc. ("PVC") (Class 1 Shares) -
the LargeCap S&P 500 Index Account; the Account will also invest in the PFI Bond
Market Index Fund or the PVC Bond Market Index Account. The Account will
generally allocate approximately 50% of its assets to the equity index funds
according to U.S. and non-U.S. market capitalizations and approximately 50% to
the Bond Market Index Fund or Account for intermediate duration. The percentages
reflect the extent to which the Account will normally invest in the particular
market segment represented by the underlying funds, and the varying degrees of
potential investment risk and reward represented by the Account's investments in
those market segments and its underlying funds.

Without shareholder approval, Principal Management Corporation ("Principal"),
the manager for PVC and PFI, may alter the percentage ranges and/or substitute
or remove underlying funds (including investing in other investment companies)
when it deems appropriate in order to achieve the Account's investment
objective. The assets of the Account will be allocated among underlying funds in
accordance with its investment objective, while considering Principal's outlook
for the economy, the financial markets, and the relative market valuations of
the underlying funds.
  
In selecting underlying funds and target weights, Principal considers, among
other things, quantitative measures, such as past performance, expected levels
of risk and returns, expense levels, diversification of existing funds, and
style consistency. The Account will be re-balanced monthly.

The net asset value of the Account's shares is affected by changes in the value
of the shares of the underlying funds it owns. The Account's investments are
invested in the underlying funds and, as a result, the Account's performance is
directly related to their performance. The Account's ability to meet its
investment objective depends on the ability of the underlying funds to achieve
their investment objectives.

Principal Risks

The Account may be an appropriate investment for investors seeking the potential
for a medium level of income and a medium level of capital growth, while
exposing them to a medium level of principal risk.

The diversification of the Account is designed to cushion losses in any one
investment sector and moderate overall price volatility. However, the Account is
subject to the particular risks of the underlying funds in the proportions in
which the Account invests in them, and its share prices will fluctuate as the
prices of underlying fund shares rise or fall with changing market conditions.
If you sell your shares when their value is less than the price you paid, you
will lose money. The Account operates as a fund of funds and thus bears both its
own expenses and, indirectly, its proportionate share of the expenses of the
underlying funds in which it invests. 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 that are inherent in the fund of funds, in alphabetical
order, are:

Asset Allocation Risk. A fund's selection and weighting of asset classes may
cause it to underperform other funds with a similar investment objective.
  
Conflict of Interest Risk. The Advisor and its affiliates earn different fees
from different underlying funds and may have an incentive to allocate more
fund-of-fund assets to underlying funds from which they receive higher fees.
  
Investment Company Securities Risk. Fund shareholders bear indirectly their
proportionate share of the expenses of other investment companies in which the
fund invests.
  
The principal risks of investing in the Account that are inherent in the
underlying funds, in alphabetical order, are:
  
Currency Risk.  Risks of investing in securities denominated in, or that trade
in, foreign (non-U.S.) currencies include changes in foreign exchange rates and
foreign exchange restrictions.
  
Derivatives Risk. Transactions in derivatives (such as options, futures,
currency contracts, and swaps) may increase volatility, cause the liquidation of
portfolio positions when not advantageous to do so and produce disproportionate
losses.
  
Equity Securities Risk. Equity securities (common, convertible preferred stocks
and other securities whose values are tied to the price of stocks, such as
rights, warrants and convertible debt securities) could decline in value 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.
  
Fixed-Income Securities Risk. Fixed-income securities are subject to interest
rate risk and credit quality risk. The market value of fixed-income securities
generally declines when interest rates rise, and an issuer of fixed-income
securities could default on its payment obligations.
  
Foreign Securities Risk. The risks of foreign securities include loss of value
as a result of: political or economic instability; nationalization,
expropriation or confiscatory taxation; settlement delays; and limited
government regulation (including less stringent reporting, accounting, and
disclosure standards than are required of U.S. companies).
  
Index Fund Investment Risk. More likely than not, an index fund will not provide
investment performance that matches the index performance due to cashflows and
the fees and expenses of the fund.
  
Investment Company Securities Risk. Fund shareholders bear indirectly their
proportionate share of the expenses of other investment companies in which the
fund invests.
  
Portfolio Duration Risk. Portfolio duration is a measure of the expected life of
a fixed-income security and its sensitivity to changes in interest rates. The
longer a fund's average portfolio duration, the more sensitive the fund will be
to changes in interest rates.
  
Prepayment Risk. Unscheduled prepayments on mortgage-backed and asset-backed
securities may have to be reinvested at lower rates. A reduction in prepayments
may increase the effective maturities of these securities, exposing them to the
risk of decline in market value over time (extension risk).
  
Real Estate Securities Risk. Real estate securities are subject to the risks
associated with direct ownership of real estate, including declines in value,
adverse economic conditions, increases in expenses, regulatory changes and
environmental problems.
  
Risk of Being an Underlying 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.

U.S. Government Securities Risk. Yields available from U.S. government
securities are generally lower than yields from many other fixed-income
securities.
  
U.S. Government Sponsored Securities Risk. Securities issued by U.S.
government-sponsored or -chartered enterprises such as the Federal Home Loan
Mortgage Corporation, the Federal National Mortgage Association, and the Federal
Home Loan Banks are not issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Treasury.

Performance

The following information provides some indication of the risks of investing in
the Account by showing changes in the Account's performance from year to year
and by showing how the Account's average annual returns for 1, 5, and 10 years
(or, if shorter, the life of the Account) compare with those of one or more
broad measures of market performance. Past performance is not necessarily an
indication of how the Account will perform in the future. Performance figures
for the Accounts do not include any separate account expenses, cost of
insurance, or other contract-level expenses; total returns for the Accounts
would be lower if such expenses were included.

The S&P 500 Index is used to show large cap U.S. equity market. The MSCI - EAFE
Index NDTR D is used to show international stock performance. The S&P 400 Midcap
Stock Index is used to show mid cap U.S. equity market. The S&P Smallcap 600
Stock Index is used to show small cap U.S. equity market. The custom index is
used to show the performance of the various asset classes used by the Account,
and the Average Annual Total Returns table shows performance of the components
of the custom index. The weightings for the Diversified Balanced Custom Index
are 50% Barclays Capital Aggregate Bond Index, 35% S&P 500 Index, 7% MSCI - EAFE
Index NDTR D, 4% S&P 400 Midcap Stock Index, and 4% S&P Smallcap 600 Stock
Index.

Calendar Year Total Returns (%) as of 12/31 each year (Class 2 Shares)

Highest return for a quarter during the period of the bar              
chart above:                                                    Q3 '10     6.79%
Lowest return for a quarter during the period of the bar               
chart above:                                                    Q3 '11    -6.34%

Average Annual Total Returns (%) For the periods ended December 31, 2011

Average Annual Total Returns Diversified Balanced Account	Average Annual Returns, Label	Average Annual Returns, 1 Year	Average Annual Returns, Since Inception	Average Annual Returns, Inception Date
Class 2	Diversified Balanced Account - Class 2	3.61%	6.85%	Dec. 30, 2009
S&P 500 Index	S&P 500 Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes)	2.11%	7.84%
Barclays Capital Aggregate Bond Index	Barclays Capital Aggregate Bond Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes)	7.84%	7.09%
MSCI - EAFE Index NDTR D	MSCI EAFE Index NDTR D (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes)	(12.14%)	(2.47%)
S&P 400 Midcap Stock Index	S&P 400 Midcap Stock Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes)	(1.73%)	10.83%
S&P Smallcap 600 Stock Index	S&P Smallcap 600 Stock Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes)	1.02%	12.16%
Diversified Balanced Custom Index	Diversified Balanced Custom Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes)	4.06%	7.53%