The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc., usually known as The Hartford, is a United States-based investment and insurance company that is part of the Fortune 500 list. Headquartered in Hartford, Connecticut, The Hartford's 2013 revenues were $26.2 billion. The company's earnings are divided between property-and-casualty operations, group benefits and mutual funds.
The Hartford is the 12th-largest property and casualty company in the United States, The Hartford sells its products primarily through a network of agents and brokers, and has been the direct auto and home insurance writer for members of AARP (formerly the American Association of Retired Persons) for more than 25 years.
The company's product offerings include:
- Auto and homeowners' insurance
- Business insurance, including workers' compensation, auto, property, general and professional liability
- Employee benefits, including disability, life & accident and retiree health
- Mutual funds (sub-advised by Wellington Management)
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History
The Hartford was founded in 1810 in Hartford, Connecticut. A group of local merchants gathered in a Hartford inn and, with working capital of $15,000, founded the Hartford Fire Insurance Company. The company survived some of the greatest peacetime tragedies in American history. After a huge fire destroyed New York's financial district in 1835, The Hartford's president, Eliphalet Terry, used his personal wealth to cover all of the company's damage claims. Other catastrophic events included the Chicago fire of 1871 and the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire.
The company logo shows a male deer, which in full maturity was referred to by the medieval hunting term hart. The etymology of 'Hartford' is the ford where harts cross (deer crossing). The Seal of the City of Hartford likewise features a mature male deer.
- 1913: Formed the Hartford Accident and Indemnity Company to provide a wide variety of insurance coverage, including accident, automobile-liability, personal-damage, business-interruption and more.
- 1959: Expanded into the life-insurance business by acquiring The Columbian National Life Insurance Company in Boston, Massachusetts.
- 1970: The Hartford was acquired by ITT Corporation for $1.4 billion, at the time the largest corporate takeover in American history. The combined company was renamed ITT-Hartford Group, Inc.
- 1995: ITT decided to streamline its operations and release some of its subsidiaries, and The Hartford became an independent entity once again, trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "HIG."
- 1997: Changed name from ITT-Hartford Group, Inc. to the Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc., and also issued an IPO for its Hartford Life business under the ticker symbol "HLI."
- 2000: Reacquired all the shares of Hartford Life (HLI was delisted from the New York Stock Exchange in 2006).
- 2004: Purchased the Group Benefits Division of CNA Financial. The division was based in Chicago, Illinois.
- March 2012: Announced it would focus on property and casualty insurance, group benefits and mutual funds, and would sell its wealth management businesses.
- 2013: Sold its life insurance business to Prudential, retirement plans to MassMutual, and a broker-dealer to AIG.
- 2014: Sold its Japan annuities business to Orix Life Insurance Corp.
External recognition
In 2008, the Ethisphere Institute named The Hartford one of the "World's Most Ethical Companies" for the first time, and was subsequently recognized in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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