Â鶹´«Ã½

Home   News   Features   Interviews   Magazine Archive   Symposium   Industry Awards  
Subscribe
Â鶹´«Ã½
Leading the Way

Global Â鶹´«Ã½ Finance News and Commentary
≔ Menu
Â鶹´«Ã½
Leading the Way

Global Â鶹´«Ã½ Finance News and Commentary
News by section
Subscribe
⨂ Close
  1. Home
  2. Industry news
  3. Hartford Financial Services sells broker-dealer business
Industry news

Hartford Financial Services sells broker-dealer business


22 March 2012 Connecticut
Reporter:

Generic business image for news article
Image: Shutterstock
Hartford Financial Services group has shut down its annuity business, pursuing a sale or other options for its individual life insurance, retirement plan and broker-dealer businesses.

Following pressure to boost its stock price from the company’s largest shareholder, hedge fund manager John Paulson, the company said it would get rid of most of its life insurance-related operations and focus on being a property insurance company.

One of three insurers to receive a government bailout during the financial crisis, stocks in The Hartford have now climbed 6.4 percent to $23.10.

Stifel Nicolaus analyst Meyer Shields estimated the company could end up with proceeds of about $1.5 billion from the asset sales, mostly from the life and broker-dealer businesses, while Barclays analyst Jay Gelb said the assets were likely to draw interest from the likes of AIG.

The Hartford chief executive Liam McGee said in an interview the plan was not a direct reaction to Paulson’s fears, adding: "We take suggestions from all of our shareholders, not just Paulson, quite seriously. Clearly we evaluated a split but we were in the course of evaluating many options."
NO FEE, NO RISK
100% ON RETURNS If you invest in only one securities finance news source this year, make sure it is your free subscription to Â鶹´«Ã½ Finance Times
Advertisement
Subscribe today
Knowledge base

Explore our extensive directory to find all the essential contacts you need

Visit our directory →
Glossary terms in this article
→ Hedge

Discover definitions, explanations and related news articles in our glossary

Visit our glossary →