This summary is based on the fourth quarter fiscal 2007 earnings call conducted by Hartford Financial Services (HIG: chart) on January 25, 2008.

CEO, Chairman of Exec. Committee: Ramani Ayer
President, Chief Operating Officer: Thomas Marra
President of Property Casualty Operations: Neal Wolin
Executive VP and Chief Financial Officer: David Johnson

Key Investors Issues

- The earnings per share fell to $1.88 from $2.42 in the previous year.
- In 2007, assets under management grew 14% over 2006 to $372 billion.
- For fiscal 2007, the earnings were $2.95 billion as against $2.75 billion in 2006.

Fourth Quarter Fiscal 2007 Financial Highlights

The company reported fourth quarter 2007 net income of $595 million, or $1.88 per diluted share.

For the full year 2007, net income was up 7% over the prior year to $2.9 billion. The Hartford''s core earnings in the fourth quarter of 2007 were $840 million, or $2.66 per diluted share, and were $3.5 billion, or $10.99 per diluted share, for the full year 2007. The Hartford''s strong fourth quarter results capped an outstanding year for the company. In 2007, the firm reported record earnings, grew book value per share and generated over 15% return on equity. The firm also returned more than $1.8 billion to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases.

The company had good underlying profitability in its businesses in the fourth quarter, with the volatile credit market resulting in some capital losses. The book value per share, excluding AOCI, rose 2% from September 30, and is up 11% in the past 12 months.

Hartford hit several major milestones this year, including surpassing one million small commercial policies in force, accumulating more than $50 billion of assets in Hartford''s family of mutual funds, and crossing $400 billion in assets under management for the corporation.

Performance Analysis of Segments

Life Operations

In 2007, the life operations of the firm delivered record net income performance. The firm’s efforts to diversify its earnings base and grow scale in its asset accumulation businesses are working. Total 2007 deposits grew significantly to $53 billion in its US and international investment businesses, with notable growth in mutual funds, institutional sales and 401(k) plans. The firm also recently announced three acquisitions in its retirement plans group that will open up new markets.

Assets under management grew to $372 billion as of December 31, 2007, up 14% over the last twelve months. Net income was $277 million for the fourth quarter of 2007, including the effect of $180 million of net realized capital losses. Net income in the fourth quarter of 2006 was $359 million, including a $63 million charge related to the 2006 DAC unlock and $4 million of net realized capital gains unrelated to the DAC unlock.

Life operations reported full year 2007 net income of $1.6 billion, including a $210 million benefit related to the third quarter DAC unlock. Full year 2007 net income was also impacted by $429 million of net realized capital losses unrelated to the DAC unlock. Net income for the full year of 2006 was $1.4 billion, including the $63 million charge related to the DAC unlock and $142 million of net realized capital losses unrelated to the DAC unlock.

Retail Products Group

Retail products deposits grew 5% over the prior year to $7 billion in the fourth quarter of 2007, with strong growth in retail mutual fund deposits. Total retail products assets under management grew 9% since December 31, 2006, to $180.5 billion. Net income for the fourth quarter of 2007 was $196 million, including the impact of $12 million of net realized capital losses.

Variable annuity deposits for the fourth quarter of 2007 were $3.1 billion, unchanged from the prior year. Fourth quarter 2007 net outflows were $1.1 billion, compared with $696 million in the prior year. Variable annuity assets under management ended the quarter at $119.1 billion, 4% higher than December 31, 2006.

Retail mutual fund deposits topped $3.5 billion in the fourth quarter of 2007, up 14% from the prior year. The company continued to make significant progress toward diversifying its mutual fund deposits. In the fourth quarter of 2007, deposits to the company''s equity funds, beyond its most popular fund, more than doubled over the prior year. Over the five-year time period, 86% of Hartford''s equity funds rank in the top two Lipper quartiles as of December 31, 2007. Strong net sales for the year pushed mutual fund assets under management to $50.5 billion at the end of 2007, a 26% increase over the prior year.

Retirement Plans

Retirement plan assets under management at the end of 2007 stood at $28.5 billion, a 16% increase over December 31, 2006. Total deposits were $1.4 billion in the fourth quarter of 2007, compared with $1.5 billion in the prior year. Fourth quarter 2007 deposits to 401(k) plans increased 14% over the prior year to $1.1 billion.