A.M. Best Assigns Ratings to The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc.’s New Shelf Registration

A.M. Best Co. has assigned indicative ratings of “bbb+” to senior unsecured debt, “bbb” to subordinated debt and “bbb-” to preferred stock, which may be issued under the recently filed and approved shelf registration statement of The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. (The Hartford) (Hartford, CT) [NYSE: HIG]. The outlook assigned to the ratings is negative.

The new shelf registration replaces The Hartford’s previous shelf registration filed in April 2007, which had expired. Consequently, the ratings for the previous shelf registration have been withdrawn.

The Hartford’s issuer credit rating (ICR) of “bbb+”, existing debt ratings and ratings of its insurance operating entities are all unchanged.

The principal methodology used in determining these ratings is http://www.ambest.com/ratings/methodology/bcrm.pdf, which provides a comprehensive explanation of A.M. Best’s rating process and highlights the different rating criteria employed. Additional key criteria utilized include: “A.M. Best’s Ratings & the Treatment of Debt” and “Equity Credit for Hybrid Securities.” Methodologies can be found at http://www.ambest.com/ratings/methodology.