Patrick Halter, CEO of Principal Real Estate Investors, has been elected chairman of the board of directors of the National Association of Real Estate Investment Managers (NAREIM). Principal Real Estate Investors, a subsidiary of Principal Financial Group Inc., manages or subadvises more than $34 billion in commercial real estate assets. Members of NAREIM, an association for companies engaged in the real estate investment management business, collectively manage more than $1 trillion of real estate investment assets around the world. Halter’s two-year term began on Oct. 1.