Casey Walters

About Casey Walters

With over 15 years of experience in strategy, innovation, and corporate development, I serve as Associate Director of Corporate Strategy & Development and our Retirement Group AI Champion at Principal Financial Group. I work closely with senior leaders to turn complex growth opportunities into clear, executable strategies that create long-term value.My background spans financial consulting, real estate investment, and building operational systems in real-world, asset-heavy environments. I bring a builder’s mindset to strategy—grounded in economic discipline, customer reality, and a strong bias towards execution.I’m especially interested in how trust, confidence, and verification are created inside operating systems, whether at enterprise scale or in service-driven businesses like short-term rentals. That curiosity led me to found SureHost, an early-stage effort focused on improving turnover confidence property hosts.I help teams cut through noise, make better decisions, and build systems that hold up in the real world.

Experience

1. Ad - Corporate Strategy and Development

   Principal Financial Group

   Mar 2025 — Present · Des Moines, IA, US

   Driving strategic growth and innovation within the Retirement space, now expanded through a cross-functional partnership with Corporate Strategy & Development—including Strategy, Innovation, and Capital Markets.This role bridges strategic alignment and executive engagement to deliver both organic and inorganic growth across business lines. With a focus on long-term value creation, I lead initiatives that connect retirement market expertise with enterprise-level strategy, M&A evaluation, and capital deployment—positioning the organization for sustained competitive advantage.Key Skillsets & Focus Areas:• Strategic Planning & Execution• Corporate Development (M&A, Partnerships)• Innovation & Business Model Design• Retirement Industry Trends & Insights• Executive Stakeholder Management• Capital Markets Integration• Cross-Business Growth Initiatives• Data-Informed Decision Making• Retirement BU\'s AI Champion

Education

• Universidad de Málaga

  Intensive Spanish

  2008 — 2009

• W. P. Carey School of Business – Arizona State University

  Bachelor of Science - BS, Economics

  2004 — 2008

• Northwestern University - Kellogg School of Management

  Executive MBA, Product Strategy Certification

Skills

• Event Planning
• Start-Ups
• Public Speaking
• Crm
• Entrepreneurship
• Fundraising
• Microsoft Excel
• Powerpoint
• Due Diligence
• Real Estate
• Working Environment
• Customer Service
• Microsoft Office
• Spanish
• Project Management
• Finance
• Marketing
• Public Relations
• Time Management
• Crisis Communications