PRINCIPAL LIFETIME 2020 ACCOUNT
Class 1 Shares
Principal Variable Contracts Funds, Inc. Summary Prospectus May 1, 2026
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, Statement of Additional Information, Reports to Shareholders, and other information about the Fund online at www.PrincipalAM.com/PVCProspectuses. 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.
The Fund’s Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information, both dated May 1, 2026, as may be amended or supplemented, are incorporated by reference into this Summary Prospectus.
Objective
The Fund seeks a total return consisting of long-term growth of capital and current income.
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold, and sell shares of the Fund. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and examples below. These fees and expenses do not reflect the fees and expenses of any variable insurance contract that may invest in the Fund and would be higher if they did.
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
| Share Class | |||||
| Class 1 | |||||
| Management Fees | 0.00% | ||||
| Other Expenses | 0.01% | ||||
| Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses | 0.46% | ||||
| Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses | 0.47% | ||||
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 also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’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:
| 1 year | 3 years | 5 years | 10 years | |||||||||||
| Principal LifeTime 2020 Account - Class 1 | $48 | $151 | $263 | $591 | ||||||||||
Portfolio Turnover
The Fund and each underlying 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. These costs, which are not reflected in Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the Example, affect the Fund’s and the underlying fund's performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 38.1% of the average value of its portfolio.
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Principal Investment Strategies
The Fund operates as a “target date fund” that invests according to an asset allocation strategy designed for investors having a retirement investment goal close to the year in the Fund’s name. The Fund is a fund of funds and invests in underlying funds of Principal Exchange-Traded Funds ("PETF"), Principal Funds, Inc. (“PFI”), and Principal Variable Contracts Funds, Inc. (“PVC”). Its underlying funds consist of domestic and foreign equity funds, fixed-income funds, real asset funds, and other funds that aim to offer diversification beyond traditional equity and fixed-income securities. The asset class diversification of the Fund is designed to moderate overall price volatility. The Fund may add, remove, or substitute underlying funds at any time.
The Fund is managed with strategic or long-term asset class targets and target ranges. There is a rebalancing strategy that aligns with the target weights to identify asset classes that are either overweight or underweight. The Fund may shift asset class targets in response to normal evaluative processes, the shortening time horizon of the Fund, or changes in market forces or Fund circumstances.
In selecting underlying funds and target weights, the Fund considers both quantitative measures (e.g., past performance, expected levels of risk and returns, expense levels, diversification, and style consistency) and qualitative factors (e.g., organizational stability, investment experience, investment and risk management processes, and information, trading, and compliance systems). There are no minimum or maximum percentages of assets that the Fund must invest in a specific asset class or underlying fund.
The underlying funds invest in growth and value stocks of large market capitalization companies, fixed-income securities, domestic and foreign securities, securities denominated in foreign currencies, investment companies, U.S. government and U.S. government-sponsored securities, and derivatives. A derivative is a financial arrangement, the value of which is derived from, or based on, a traditional security, asset, or market index. The underlying funds principally use futures, options, swaps (including, for example, credit default, interest rate, and currency swaps), and forwards in order to gain exposure to a variety of securities or asset classes or attempt to reduce risk.
The Fund’s asset allocation will become more conservative as the Fund reaches its stated target year and the Fund’s strategy becomes more risk adverse. Approximately 10 years after its target year, the Fund’s underlying fund allocation is expected to match that of the Principal LifeTime Strategic Income Account. At that time, the Fund may be combined with the Principal LifeTime Strategic Income Account if the Board of Directors determines that the combination is in the best interests of Fund shareholders. It is expected that at the target date in the Fund’s name, the shareholder will begin gradually withdrawing the account’s value.
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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. An investment in the Fund 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 Fund are listed below in alphabetical order and not in order of significance.
Principal Risks of Investing in a Fund of Funds
Fund of Funds Risk. Fund shareholders bear indirectly their proportionate share of the expenses of other investment companies (for example, other mutual funds or exchange-traded funds) in which the Fund invests (“underlying funds”). The Fund’s selection and weighting of asset classes and allocation of investments in underlying funds may cause it to underperform other funds with a similar investment objective. The Fund’s performance and risks correspond directly to the performance and risks of the underlying funds in which it invests, proportionately in accordance with the weightings of such investments, and there is no assurance that the underlying funds will achieve their investment objectives. Management of the Fund entails potential conflicts of interest: the Fund invests in affiliated underlying funds; and PGI and its affiliates may earn different fees from different underlying funds and may have an incentive to allocate more Fund assets to underlying funds from which they receive higher fees.
Target Date Fund Risk. A target date fund should not be selected based solely on age or retirement date because there is no guarantee that this Fund will provide adequate income at or through retirement.
Principal Risks due to the Fund's Investments in Underlying Funds
Counterparty Risk. Counterparty risk is the risk that the counterparty to a contract or other obligation will be unable or unwilling to honor its obligations.
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Derivatives Risk. Derivatives may not move in the direction anticipated by the portfolio manager. Transactions in derivatives may increase volatility, cause the liquidation of portfolio positions when not advantageous to do so, and result in disproportionate losses that may be substantially greater than a fund’s initial investment.
•Credit Default Swaps. Credit default swaps involve special risks in addition to those associated with swaps generally because they are difficult to value, are highly susceptible to liquidity and credit risk, and generally pay a return to the party that has paid the premium only in the event of an actual default by the issuer of the underlying obligation (as opposed to a credit downgrade or other indication of financial difficulty). The protection “buyer” in a credit default contract may be obligated to pay the protection “seller” an up-front payment or a periodic stream of payments over the term of the contract, provided, generally, that no credit event on a reference obligation has occurred. If a credit event occurs, the seller generally must pay the buyer the “par value” (i.e., full notional value) of the swap in exchange for an equal face amount of deliverable obligations of the reference entity described in the swap, or the seller may be required to deliver the related net cash amount, if the swap is cash settled. The Fund may be either the buyer or seller in the transaction.
•Forward Contracts, Futures, and Swaps. Forward contracts, futures, and swaps involve specific risks, including: the imperfect correlation between the change in market value of the instruments held by the Fund and the price of the forward contract, future, or swap; possible lack of a liquid secondary market for a forward contract, future, or swap and the resulting inability to close a forward contract, future, or swap when desired; counterparty risk; and if the Fund has insufficient cash, it may have to sell securities from its portfolio to meet daily variation margin requirements.
•Options. Options involve specific risks, including: the imperfect correlation between the change in market value of the instruments held by the Fund and the price of the options; counterparty risk; difference in trading hours for the options markets and the markets for the underlying securities (rate movements can take place in the underlying markets that cannot be reflected in the options markets); and an insufficient liquid secondary market for particular options.
Equity Securities Risk. A variety of factors can negatively impact the value of equity securities held by a fund, including a decline in the issuer’s financial condition, unfavorable performance of the issuer’s sector or industry, or changes in response to overall market and economic conditions. A fund’s principal market segment(s) (such as market capitalization or style) may underperform other market segments or the equity markets as a whole.
•Growth Style Risk. Growth investing entails the risk that if growth companies do not increase their earnings at a rate expected by investors, the market price of their stock may decline significantly, even if earnings show an absolute increase. Growth company stocks also typically lack the dividend yield that can lessen price declines in market downturns.
•Value Style Risk. Value investing entails the risk that value stocks may continue to be undervalued by the market for extended periods, including the entire period during which the stock is held by a fund, or the events that would cause the stock price to increase may not occur as anticipated or at all. Moreover, a stock that appears to be undervalued actually may be appropriately priced at a low level and, therefore, would not be profitable for the fund.
Fixed-Income Securities Risk. Fixed-income securities are subject to interest rate, credit quality, and liquidity risks. The market value of fixed-income securities generally declines when interest rates rise, and increased interest rates may adversely affect the liquidity of certain fixed-income securities. Moreover, an issuer of fixed-income securities could default on its payment obligations due to increased interest rates or for other reasons.
Foreign 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.
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).
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, which means funds with longer average portfolio durations may be more volatile than those with shorter durations.
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Redemption and Large Transaction Risk. Ownership of the Fund’s shares may be concentrated in one or a few large investors (such as funds of funds, institutional investors, and asset allocation programs) that may redeem or purchase shares in large quantities. These transactions may cause the Fund to sell securities to meet redemptions or to invest additional cash at times it would not otherwise do so, which may result in increased transaction costs, increased expenses, changes to expense ratios, and adverse effects to Fund performance. Such transactions may also accelerate the realization of taxable income if sales of portfolio securities result in gains. Moreover, reallocations by large shareholders among share classes of a fund may result in changes to the expense ratios of affected classes, which may increase the expenses paid by shareholders of the class that experienced the redemption.
Securitized Products Risk. Investments in securitized products are subject to risks similar to traditional fixed-income securities, such as credit, interest rate, liquidity, prepayment, extension, and default risk, as well as additional risks associated with the nature of the assets and the servicing of those assets. Unscheduled prepayments on securitized products 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. The value of U.S. government securities may be adversely impacted by changes in interest rates, changes in the credit rating of the U.S. government, or a default by the U.S. government.
U.S. Government-Sponsored Securities Risk. Securities issued by U.S. government-sponsored 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. government.
Performance
The following information provides some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund. Past performance is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. You may get updated performance information by calling 1-800-222-5852.
The bar chart shows changes in the Fund’s performance from year to year. The table shows how the Fund’s average annual returns for 1, 5, and 10 years (or, if shorter, the life of the Fund) compare with those of one or more broad measures of market performance. Performance figures for the Fund do not include any separate account expenses, cost of insurance, or other contract-level expenses; total returns for the Fund would be lower if such expenses were included.
Total Returns as of December 31
| Highest return for a quarter during the period of the bar chart above: | Q2 2020 | 12.53% | ||||||
| Lowest return for a quarter during the period of the bar chart above: | Q1 2020 | (11.58)% | ||||||
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Average Annual Total Returns
For the periods ended December 31, 2025
| 1 Year | 5 Years | 10 Years | |||||||||
| Principal LifeTime 2020 Account - Class 1 | 11.33% | 4.65% | 6.77% | ||||||||
Bloomberg US Aggregate Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes) | 7.30% | (0.36)% | 2.01% | ||||||||
S&P Target Date 2020 Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes) | 12.72% | 5.35% | 6.81% | ||||||||
The Bloomberg US Aggregate Index is the Fund's primary broad-based securities market index. The S&P Target Date 2020 Index is included as an additional index for the Fund as it shows how the Fund’s performance compares with the returns of an index of funds with similar investment objectives.
Investment Advisor and Portfolio Managers
Principal Global Investors, LLC
•James W. Fennessey (since 2007), Portfolio Manager
•Todd A. Jablonski (since 2025), Portfolio Manager
•Chad Severin (since 2025), Portfolio Manager
•Scott Smith (since 2017), Portfolio Manager
•May Tong (since 2025), 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 Fund.
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as an insurance company), 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, to recommend one Fund or share class of the Fund over another Fund or 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 website for more information.
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