March 21 -
Overview
-- Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. announced today that it will shift its focus away from certain products in its wealth management segment, and will likely divest individual life and retirement plans.
-- Given its planned exit from these businesses, we are rating each life subsidiary on its stand-alone credit characteristics.
-- As a result, we are downgrading the subsidiaries previously aggregated under Hartford Life, and assigning individual ratings and outlooks to each legal entity.
-- We are also downgrading to 'BBB-' the $240 million senior debt issued by Hartford Life Inc.
-- We are affirming our ratings on the holding company, the holding company debt, and the property/casualty subsidiaries represented by the Hartford Fire group.
Rating Action
On March 21, 2012, Standard & Poor's Rating Services lowered its counterparty credit and insurer financial strength ratings on most of the subsidiaries of Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. (NYSE: HIG) previously considered aggregated under Hartford Life--Hartford Life and Accident Insurance Co. (HLA), Hartford Life Insurance Co. (HLIC), Hartford Life and Annuity Insurance Co. (HLAI), Hartford International Life Reassurance Corp. (HILRE). We have assigned individual ratings and outlooks to each legal entity (see list below).
At the same time, we affirmed our 'BBB/A-2' ratings on HIG itself and those on its holding company debt, and its property/casualty (P/C) insurance operating subsidiaries. We also affirmed the 'A-' rating on American Maturity Life Insurance Co. (AML). The outlook on HLAI is negative, and the outlook on all other Hartford entities is stable.
