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Moody's Affirms Hartford Ratings

By staff Writer

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The credit ratings of Hartford Financial Services Group and its key subsidiaries have been affirmed by Moody’s Investors Service.

Moody’s also changed the outlook of the company and its subsidiaries to stable from developing.

Moody’s officials said they based the better outlook on of Hartford’s improved financial profile as a result of stronger capitalization and enhanced financial flexibility.

Although the company’s property and casualty segment was performing well, Moody’s said, its life operation “remains comparatively weaker, given the impact of recent global capital market volatility on both the product side (through annuity guarantees) and the asset side (through investment losses).”

Moody’s based its higher rating on increases in the Hartford’s liquidity and capital position over the last 6 months by a combination of $3.4 billion in funding through participation in the U.S. Treasury’s Capital Purchase Program and an additional $900 million in common equity.

“Even though the Hartford continues to have considerable challenges with its life operations, we believe that the group’s overall credit profile has largely stabilized,” said Paul Bauer, a senior credit officer at Moody’s.