A.M. Best Affirms Ratings of The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc.'s Life Insurance Affiliates

Business Wire, May 23, 2008

OLDWICK, N.J. -- A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating (FSR) of A (Superior) and issuer credit ratings (ICR) of "aa-" of the key life/health insurance subsidiaries of The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. (The Hartford) (Hartford, CT) (NYSE: HIG). A.M. Best also has affirmed the debt ratings and the three medium-term note programs of The Hartford's insurance subsidiaries. The outlook for the FSR and debt ratings is stable, and the outlook for the ICRs and the medium-term note programs is positive. The life/health subsidiaries, referred to collectively as Hartford Life, constitute the life operations of The Hartford. (Please see link below for a detailed listing of the companies and ratings.)

Hartford Life's ratings reflect its strong risk-based capitalization, significant market position in several life insurance and retirement savings businesses (most notably variable annuities), diversified sources of revenues and earnings and broad multi-channel distribution platform. In addition, the ratings recognize the organization's strong, well-developed enterprise risk management framework, as well as the overall quality of its management team. Hartford Life continues to successfully grow both revenues and earnings across its key product lines, supplemented by its sizable Japanese annuity business, which has quickly become a significant contributor and its fastest growing business.

Partly offsetting these positive rating factors is Hartford Life's ongoing challenge of managing the risks associated with life and annuity secondary guarantees, which it accomplishes primarily through product design, reinsurance and effective hedging. Moreover, its investment portfolio has experienced significant realized and unrealized losses over the past year primarily due to the widening credit spreads and the depressed structured fixed income product pricing driven by dislocation in the subprime and Alt-A residential mortgage markets. Additionally, as demonstrated in first quarter 2008, Hartford Life's operating results and capitalization are exposed to a potential downturn in the equity markets as roughly half of its operating earnings are derived from retail separate account products. Nevertheless, A.M. Best expects the life operations to continue to maintain strong risk-adjusted capitalization in the near to medium term, with financial support from The Hartford if needed.

The Hartford's financial leverage and coverage measures through 2007 are within A.M. Best's guidelines for its ratings, with an adjusted debt-to-total capital measure of 19% and interest coverage of approximately 16.2 times. However, leverage and coverage measures did deteriorate in first quarter 2008, primarily due to the negative impact of unrealized capital losses on as mentioned above.

For a complete listing of Hartford Life's FSRs, ICRs and debt ratings, visit www.ambest.com/press/052307hartfordlife.pdf.> Founded in 1899, A.M. Best Company is a global full-service credit rating organization dedicated to serving the financial and health care service industries, including insurance companies, banks, hospitals and health care system providers. For more information, visit www.ambest.com.