VALDOSTA — When a Fortune 500 company that manages $256.9 billion in total assets approached Steve Parker about opening the company’s first office in Valdosta, Parker didn’t just listen.

He said yes. Then his brother Rusty Parker followed.

Steve Parker, 51, had worked as a financial services representative at Strategic Wealth Group for more than five years when the Principal Financial Group approached him with the offer during summer of 2006, Parker said.

“Principal is the number one 401-K manager in the world,” Parker said. “I wanted my own business. And Principal offers a wide range of financial products and services that enables me to better serve my clients.”

Parker and his brother agreed to open the office in October 2006. It’s located behind Paul Cribb’s State Farm Insurance office in a building at 3555 N. Crossing Circle just off North Valdosta Road.

Rusty Parker, 49, started with AFLAC Insurance Co. in 1989 and was planning to retire in 2006 from his regional manager position with the firm.

“I just sort of tagged along to Steve’s interview with Principal,” Rusty said. “I had been dealing with small to medium businesses for 18 years, so I already had a client base. What I heard from Principal sure got me interested. Next thing you know, I’m not retiring.”

Principal Financial, founded in 1879, serves 17.6 million customers worldwide from offices in 11 countries. The company has 13,200 employees in the U.S. and 15,100 employees worldwide.

The Parkers’ target market includes small to medium business owners, high net worth individuals and physicians. But neither are tied to Principal in a way that if a client’s needs can’t be met satisfactorily by a Principal product or service, the brothers are then free to meet the demand through other companies, Steve said.

“I like having the resources that a company like Principal brings to bear,” Parker said. “I have access to attorneys and CPAs that are on staff with Principal in their regional Atlanta office. They are available to help me with more complex financial situations.

“But if what we offer doesn’t fit, I can go outside (of Principal) to find what the client wants,” Parker said. So do the two brothers actually get along, working under the same roof?

“We actually enjoy each other’s company, which is unusual,” Steve said with a chuckle. “When I moved back to Valdosta from Atlanta in 1998, Rusty and I had talked about going into business together. Principal provided the perfect vehicle for doing that.”

The Parkers hired Erin Willis from ASA Engineering Inc. to be their office manager. She started on March 3 and is working towards a license so she can handle some of the products the company offers.

“Erin is a huge part of our success,” Steve said.

If a local company is looking for a 401-K provider or isn’t satisfied with its current provider, the Parkers will, on request, complete a free due-diligence audit to identify any existing gaps or liability issues in the existing plan.