Declarations

February 22, 2009

Surplus Lines Standards

“We believe that the bill would make the surplus lines marketplace more efficient by facilitating the payment of surplus lines premium taxes and eliminating unnecessary duplicative compliance requirements on surplus lines multi-state risks.”

—John Wood, president of the National Association of Professional Surplus Lines Offices Ltd., commenting on the Non-Admitted and Reinsurance Reform Act of 2009, that is designed to create national standards for how states regulate the surplus lines market and reinsurance as well as a uniform system of surplus lines premium tax allocation and remittance.

Tough 2008

“This was clearly the most challenging year in our company’s nearly 200-year history. The capital markets proved to be especially challenging during the latter half of 2008, particularly affecting our equity-based businesses and investment performance. Even still, we took several actions to finish 2008 well capitalized and well prepared to deliver on our commitments to customers. ”

—Ramani Ayer, chairman and CEO of The Hartford, commenting on operations in 2008. He said that from an operational perspective, core insurance-based businesses had a strong 2008.