STRATEGIC ASSET MANAGEMENT (“SAM”) CONSERVATIVE BALANCED PORTFOLIO
	Class A	Class B	Class C
Ticker Symbol(s)	SAIPX	SBIPX	SCIPX
Principal Funds, Inc. Summary Prospectus March 1, 2010 amended September 16, 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, as supplemented on March 1, 2010, March 17, 2010, June 16, 2010, and September 16, 2010, and the
Statement of Additional Information dated March 1, 2010, as supplemented on March 17, 2010, June 16 , 2010, and
September 16, 2010 (which may be obtained in the same manner as the Prospectus).
Objective: The Portfolio seeks to provide a high level of total return (consisting of reinvestment of income and capital
appreciation), consistent with a moderate degree of principal risk. In general, relative to the other
Portfolios, the Conservative Balanced Portfolio should offer investors the potential for a medium to high
level of income and a medium to low level of capital growth, while exposing them to a medium to low level
of principal risk.
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			0.35%	0.35%	0.35%
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees			0.25%	1.00%	1.00%
Other Expenses			0.14%	0.19%	0.13%
Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses			0.62%	0.62%	0.62%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses			1.36%	2.16%	2.10%

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	$681	$ 957	$1,254	$2,095
Class B	$719	$1,076	$1,359	$2,290
Class C	$313	$ 658	$1,129	$2,431
You would pay the following expenses if you did not redeem your shares:
	1 year	3 years	5 years	10 years
Class A	$681	$957	$1,254	$2,095
Class B	$219	$676	$1,159	$2,290
Class C	$213	$658	$1,129	$2,431

Portfolio Turnover
As a fund of funds, the Fund 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 fund operating expenses or in the examples, affect the performance of the underlying fund and the
Fund. During its most recent fiscal year, the Fund's portfolio turnover rate was 9.2% of the average value of its
portfolio.
Principal Investment Strategies
The Portfolio is one of five Strategic Asset Management (“SAM”) Portfolios: Flexible Income, Conservative Balanced,
Balanced, Conservative Growth and Strategic Growth. The SAM Portfolios offer long-term investors different asset
allocation strategies having different levels of potential investment risk and reward. The Portfolio is intended to offer the
potential for a medium to high level of income and medium to low level of capital growth, with exposure to a medium to
low level of principal risk.
The SAM Portfolios operate as funds of funds and invest principally in Institutional Class shares of Principal Funds, Inc.
equity funds, fixed-income funds and specialty funds ("Underlying Funds"); the Sub-Advisor generally categorizes the
Underlying Fund based on the investment profile of the Underlying Fund. Each SAM Portfolio typically allocates its
assets among Underlying Funds, and within predetermined percentage ranges, as determined by the Sub-Advisor in
accordance with its outlook for the economy, the financial markets and the relative market valuations of the Underlying
Funds.
The Portfolio:
•	Generally invests between 40% and 80% of its assets in fixed-income funds, and less than 40% in any one fixed-
	income fund
•	Generally invests between 20% and 60% of its assets in equity funds, and less than 30% in any one equity fund
•	Generally invests less than 20% of its assets in specialty funds, and less than 20% in any one specialty fund
The Portfolio may temporarily exceed these percentage ranges for short periods, and the Sub-Advisor may alter the
percentage ranges when it deems appropriate.

2 Strategic Asset Management (“SAM”) Conservative Balanced Portfolio	Principal Funds, Inc.
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The Fund may utilize derivative strategies, which are financial contracts whose value depends upon, or is derived from, 

the value of an underlying asset, reference rate, or index, and may relate to stocks, bonds, interest rates, currencies or 

currency exchange rates, and related indexes. Derivative strategies may include certain options transactions, financial 

futures contracts, swaps, currency forwards, and related options for purposes such as earning income and enhancing 

returns, managing or adjusting the risk profile of the Fund, replacing more traditional direct investments, or obtaining 

exposure to certain markets. 

The Portfolio may also invest, including for temporary defensive purposes and to meet liquidity needs, directly in U.S. 

government securities, fixed-income securities rated at the time of purchase A- or higher by S&P or A3 or higher by 

Moody’s, commercial paper (including master notes), bank obligations and repurchase agreements. 

Principal Risks 

The broad diversification of the Portfolio is designed to cushion severe losses in any one investment sector and 

moderate overall price volatility. However, the Portfolio is subject to the particular risks of the Underlying Funds in 

which it invests, and its share prices and performance will fluctuate with the shares prices and performance of the 

Underlying Funds. If you sell your shares when their value is less than the price you paid, you will lose money. 

The SAM Portfolios share the same risks but often with different levels of exposure. 

The Portfolio has greater exposure than the Balanced, Conservative Growth and Strategic Growth Portfolios to: 

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. 

High Yield Securities Risk. High yield fixed-income securities (commonly referred to as "junk bonds") are subject to 

greater credit quality risk than higher rated fixed-income securities and should be considered speculative. 

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). 

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. 

The Portfolio has less exposure than the Balanced, Conservative Growth and Strategic Growth Portfolios to: 

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. 

Principal Funds, Inc.	Strategic Asset Management (“SAM”) Conservative Balanced Portfolio	3
www.principalfunds.com

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). These risks are greater for investments in 

emerging markets. 

Each of the SAM Portfolios is subject to: 

Asset Allocation Risk. A fund's selection and weighting of asset classes and/or underlying funds 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. 

Derivatives Risk. Transactions in derivatives (such as options, futures, and swaps) may increase volatility, cause the 

liquidation of portfolio positions when not advantageous to do so and produce disproportionate losses. Certain Fund 

transactions, such as reverse repurchase agreements, loans of portfolio securities, and the use of when-issued, 

delayed delivery or forward commitment transactions, or derivative instruments, may give rise to leverage, causing the 

Fund to be more volatile than if it had not been leveraged. 

Investment Company Securities Risk. Fund shareholders bear indirectly their proportionate share of the expenses of 

other investment companies in which the Fund invests. Investments in closed-end funds may involve payment of 

substantial premiums above the value of such companies' portfolio securities. 

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. 

The Fund commenced operations after succeeding to the operations of another fund on January 12, 2007. 

Performance for periods prior to that date is based on the performance of the predecessor fund which commenced 

operations on July 25, 1996. The predecessor portfolio’s performance between 1996 and 2003 benefited from the 

agreement of Edge and its affiliates to limit the portfolio’s expenses. Effective August 1, 2000, the investment objective 

and policies of the predecessor fund changed. Accordingly, the performance shown may not reflect what the 

predecessor fund’s performance would have been under its current investment objective and policies. 

4 Strategic Asset Management (“SAM”) Conservative Balanced Portfolio	Principal Funds, Inc.
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Average Annual Total Returns
For the periods ended December 31, 2009	1 Year	5 Years	10 Years
Class A Return Before Taxes	15.10%	2.39%	3.76%
Class A Return After Taxes on Distributions	13.94%	1.11%	2.40%
Class A Return After Taxes on Distribution and Sale of Fund Shares	9.92%	1.47%	2.48%
Class B Return Before Taxes	15.79%	2.42%	3.70%
Class C Return Before Taxes	20.03%	2.80%	3.60%
Barclays Capital Aggregate Bond Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes)	5.93%	4.97%	6.33%
S&P 500 Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes)	26.46%	0.42%	-0.95%
Capital Benchmark (40/60) (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes)	14.27%	3.43%	3.71%
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.
Performance of a blended index shows how the Fund's performance compares to an index with similar investment
objectives. Performance of the components of the blended index are also shown. The weightings for Capital
Benchmark 40/60 are 40% S&P 500 Index and 60% Barclays Capital Aggregate Bond Index.

Principal Funds, Inc.	Strategic Asset Management (“SAM”) Conservative Balanced Portfolio	5
www.principalfunds.com

Management
Investment Advisor: Principal Management Corporation
Sub-Advisor(s) and Portfolio Manager(s):
Edge Asset Management, Inc.
•	Charlie D. Averill (since 2010), Portfolio Manager
•	Jill R. Cuniff (since 2010), President and Portfolio Manager
•	Todd A. Jablonski (since 2010), Portfolio Manager
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.

6 Strategic Asset Management (“SAM”) Conservative Balanced Portfolio	Principal Funds, Inc.
	1-800-222-5852