LARGECAP VALUE FUND III 

	Class A	Class B	Class C
Ticker Symbol(s)	PPVAX	PLVBX	PLLCX

       Principal Funds, Inc. Summary Prospectus March 1, 2010 

Before you invest, you may want to review the Fund's prospectus, which contains more information about the Fund 

and its risks. You can find the Fund's prospectus and other information about the Fund online at 

www.principalfunds.com/investor/forms/prospectuses.htm. You can also get this information at no cost by calling 1- 

800-222-5852 or by sending an email to prospectus@principalfunds.com. 

This Summary Prospectus incorporates by reference the Statutory Prospectus for Class A, B, and C shares dated 

March 1, 2010 and the Statement of Additional Information dated March 1, 2010 (which may be obtained in the same 

manner as the Prospectus). 

Objective: The Fund seeks long-term growth of capital. 

Fees and Expenses of the Fund 

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund. You may qualify 

for sales charge discounts if you and your family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $50,000 in Principal 

Funds, Inc. More information about these and other discounts is available from your financial professional and in 

“Choosing a Share Class” and “The Costs of Investing” beginning on pages 259 and 232, respectively, of the Fund’s 

prospectus and “Multiple Class Structure” beginning on page 116 of the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information. 

Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment)
	Class A	Class B	Class C
Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases	5.50%	None	None
(as a percentage of offering price)
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (Load)	1.00%	5.00%	1.00%
(as a percentage of dollars subject to charge)
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
For the year ended October 31, 2009	Class A	Class B	Class C
Management Fees	0.78%	0.78%	0.78%
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees	0.25%	1.00%	1.00%
Other Expenses	0.85%	1.14%	3.51%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses	1.88%	2.92%	5.29%
Fee Waiver and Expense Reimbursement	0.74%	1.03%	3.40%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses after Fee Waiver and Expense
Reimbursement	1.14%	1.89%	1.89%

Principal has contractually agreed to limit the Fund’s expenses attributable to Class A, Class B, and Class C shares 

and, if necessary, pay expenses normally payable by the Fund, excluding interest expense, through the period ending 

February 28, 2011. 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 1.14% for Class A, 1.89% for Class B, and 1.89% for Class 

C shares. 

Principal has contractually agreed to limit the Fund's Management Fees through the period ending February 28, 2011. 

The fee waiver will reduce the Fund's Management Fees by 0.01% (expressed as a percent of average net assets on 

an annualized basis). 

Example 

This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other 

mutual funds. 

       The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of 

       your shares at the end of those periods. The Example assumes conversion of the Class B shares to Class A 

       shares after the eighth year. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that 

       the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on 

       these assumptions your costs would be: 

	1 year	3 years	5 years	10 years
Class A	$660	$1,029	$1,434	$2,563
Class B	$692	$1,190	$1,632	$2,908
Class C	$292	$1,227	$2,315	$5,006
You would pay the following expenses if you did not redeem your shares:
	1 year	3 years	5 years	10 years
Class A	$660	$1,029	$1,434	$2,563
Class B	$192	$ 790	$1,432	$2,908
Class C	$192	$1,227	$2,315	$5,006
Portfolio Turnover

The Fund 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 and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares 

are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the 

example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 

98.7% of the average value of its portfolio. 

Investor Profile: The Fund may be an appropriate investment for investors seeking long-term growth of capital and 

                                               willing to accept the risks of investing in common stocks but who prefer investing in companies that 

                                               appear to be considered undervalued relative to similar companies. 

Principal Investment Strategies 

Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (plus any borrowings for investment 

purposes) in companies with large market capitalizations similar to companies in the Russell 1000 Value Index 

(approximately $0.02 billion to $323.7 billion as of the most recent calendar year end) at the time of purchase. Market 

capitalization is defined as total current market value of a company's outstanding common stock.The Fund may invest 

in some mid cap and other stocks that fall below the range of companies in the Russell Index. The Fund invests in 

value stocks; value orientation emphasizes buying stocks at less than their expected investment value and avoiding 

stocks whose price has been artificially built up. The Fund may invest in securities of foreign companies and may be 

used as part of a fund of funds strategy. 

AllianceBernstein L.P. (“AllianceBernstein”) invests primarily in undervalued equity securities of companies that it 

believes offer above-average potential for earnings growth. It seeks securities that exhibit low financial ratios and can 

be acquired for less than what AllianceBernstein believes is their intrinsic value or have an attractive price relative to 

the value of expected future dividends. These investments may include securities of companies that have not 

performed well in the recent past but are undergoing management, corporate, asset restructuring or other transitions. 

Portfolio securities that have reached their intrinsic value or a target financial ratio will generally be sold. 

Westwood Management Corp. (“Westwood”) generally invests in approximately 40-60 securities that it believes are 

currently undervalued in the market and possess limited downside risk. Other key metrics for evaluating the risk/return 

profile of an investment include an improving return on equity, a declining debt/equity ratio and, in the case of common 

equities, positive earnings surprises without a corresponding increase in Wall Street estimates. Westwood may 

determine to sell a security that has reached a predetermined price target or if a change to a company's fundamentals 

negatively impacts the original investment thesis. Westwood will not necessarily sell a security that has depreciated 

below the Fund's target capitalization range. 

Principal Management Corporation invests between 10% and 40% of the Fund's assets in common stocks. It employs 

an active, quantitative “structured equity” strategy in an attempt to match or exceed the performance of the Fund's 

benchmark index (identified in the average annual total returns table below) with lower risk and improved predictability 

of returns for the entire Fund compared to the benchmark index. This strategy applies a risk-controlled investment 

process that slightly over/underweights individual stocks relative to their weight in the Fund's benchmark index. 

Principal Risks 

The value of your investment in the Fund changes with the value of the Fund’s investments. Many factors affect that 

value, and it is possible to lose money by investing in the Fund. The principal risks of investing in the Fund, in 

alphabetical order, are: 

Equity Securities Risk. Equity securities (common, preferred, and convertible preferred stocks and 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. 

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; changes in foreign exchange rates and foreign 

exchange restrictions; settlement delays; and limited government regulation (including less stringent reporting, 

accounting, and disclosure standards than are required of U.S. companies). 

Underlying Fund Risk. An underlying fund to 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. 

Value Stock Risk. The market may not recognize the intrinsic value of value stocks for a long time, or they may be 

appropriately priced at the time of purchase. 

Performance 

The following information provides an indication of the risks of investing in the Fund. The bar chart shows the 

investment returns of the Fund’s Class A shares for each full calendar year of operations for 10 years (or, if shorter, 

the life of the Fund). These annual returns do not reflect sales charges; if they did, results would be lower. The table 

shows, for each share class of the Fund and for the last one, five, and ten calendar year periods (or, if shorter, the life 

of the Fund), how the Fund’s average annual total returns compare to the returns of one or more broad-based market 

indices. Past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the 

future. You may get updated performance information online at www.principalfunds.com or by calling 1-800-222-5852. 

Class A and B shares commenced operations on June 28, 2005, and Class C shares were first sold on January 16, 

2007. The returns for Class A, B, and C shares, for the periods prior to those dates, are based on the performance of 

the Institutional Class shares adjusted to reflect the fees and expenses of Class A, B, and C shares. The adjustments 

result in performance for such periods that is no higher than the historical performance of the Institutional Class 

shares. Institutional Class shares were first sold on December 6, 2000. 

Total Returns as of December 31 each year (Class A shares) 

Highest return for a quarter during the period of the bar chart above:	Q3 ‘09	15.80%
Lowest return for a quarter during the period of the bar chart above:	Q4 ‘08	-21.58%
Average Annual Total Returns
For the periods ended December 31, 2009	1 Year	5 Years	Life of Fund
Class A Return Before Taxes	12.12%	-4.37%	0.78%
Class A Return After Taxes on Distributions	11.91%	-4.96%	0.28%
Class A Return After Taxes on Distribution and Sale of Fund Shares	8.17%	-3.51%	0.70%
Class B Return Before Taxes	12.85%	-4.51%	0.68%
Class C Return Before Taxes	16.85%	-4.01%	0.66%
Russell 1000 Value Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes)	19.69%	-0.25%	2.23%

After-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not 

reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on an investor’s tax situation and may differ 

from those shown. The after-tax returns shown are not relevant to investors who hold their Fund shares through tax- 

deferred arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts. After-tax returns are shown for Class 

A shares only and would be different for Class B and Class C shares. 

Management
Investment Advisor:
Principal Management Corporation
•	Mariateresa Monaco (since 2009), Vice President-Portfolio Manager
Sub-Advisor(s) and Portfolio Manager(s):
AllianceBernstein L.P.
•	Christopher W. Marx (since 2006), Senior Portfolio Manager
•	Joseph Gerard Paul (since 2009), Co-CIO -- US Large Cap Value Equities; CIO--North American Value
	Equities; Global Head--Diversified Value Services
•	John D. Phillips, Jr. (since 2002), Senior Portfolio Manager
•	David Yuen (since 2009), Co-CIO and Director of Research--US Value Equities; CIO--Advanced Value Fund
Westwood Management Corp.
•	Susan M. Byrne (since 2008), Chairman and Chief Investment Officer
•	Mark R. Freeman (since 2008), Senior Vice President and Portfolio Manager
•	Kellie R. Stark (since 2008), Executive Vice President and Associate Portfolio Manager
•	Scott D. Lawson (since 2008), Vice President and Senior Research Analyst
•	Jay K. Singhania (since 2008), Vice President and Research Analyst
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
Purchase minimums per fund (some exceptions apply):
•	Initial Investment	$1,000
	• For accounts with an Automatic Investment Plan (AIP)	$100
•	Subsequent Investments	$100
	• For accounts with an AIP, the subsequent automatic investments must total $1200 annually if the initial
	$1,000 minimum has not been met.
Effective March 1, 2010, Class B shares of the Fund will no longer be available for purchase, except through
exchanges and dividend reinvestments.
You may purchase or redeem shares on any business day (normally any day when the New York Stock Exchange is
open for regular trading) through your Financial Professional; by sending a written request to Principal Funds at P.O.
Box 8024, Boston, MA 02266-8024; calling us at 800-222-5852; or accessing our website (www.principalfunds.com).
Tax Information
The Fund's distributions are generally taxable to you as ordinary income, capital gains, or a combination of the two,
unless you are investing through a tax-deferred arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement
account.
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, or to recommend one share
class of the Fund over another share class. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary's Web site for
more information.