Renee Hamlen is the Chief Marketing Officer for Benefits and Protection at Principal Financial Group. Principal is a global financial services and insurance company. Renee leads marketing for its benefits and protection business. She is a marketing executive focused on products that support financial security and wellbeing. She is known for driving double-digit revenue growth through close partnership with product and sales teams. Renee Hamlen speaks at the 2026 InsurTech Spring Conference on the panel “Winning More Wallet Share in Benefits,” moderated by Ann Dieleman, alongside Nelson Lee and Chris Kaye.
Before Principal, Renee spent four years at F&G. She served as Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer. She built and scaled the company’s marketing capability as annual revenue grew from $3 billion to $10 billion. She later took on a dual role as Chief Brand and Human Capital Officer. In that role she oversaw both marketing and human resources as the company prepared for an IPO.
Renee spent a decade at New York Life Insurance Company. She was Vice President of Retail Annuities Marketing, leading marketing for the company’s second-largest business line. Earlier, she served as Chief of Staff to the president of the Investments Group. She also built the field marketing function for guaranteed income products.
Renee earned an MBA from the Georgetown University McDonough School of Business. She also holds a BA in Political Science from Clemson University, where she graduated Magna Cum Laude. She serves on the Board of Trustees of the EveryStep Foundation.
Renee also moderates the University Case Competition at the 2026 conference, featuring student teams from several universities.
