- Pros Say: Oil Price Plunge = Huge Tax Cut
- Embattled Fund Shifts Cost of Suits to Investors
- CEOs Weigh In on How To Revive Economy
- Trump Sees Act of God in Recession
- Huge Job Losses Could Be Signal That Worst Is Over
- Energy Goals a Moving Target for States
- Brown-Forman Profit Rises; Boosts 2009 Outlook
- Congress Struggles to Find Rescue Plan for Automakers
- Treasurys Get No Boost From Economic Gloom
- Lightning Round: General Mills, Coach, Praxair and More
- Lightning Round OT: Suntech, Seagate and More
- Cramer's M&A Moneymakers
- Game Plan: Retail's Real Winner This Season
- Cramer's Reasons for Holiday Cheer
- Your First Move For Monday December 8th
- Web Extra: Fast & Furious Trades For Monday
- Bear Market Boot Camp, Pt. 3
- Pops & Drops: Amazon, Sears...
- China's first private jet hub to open next year
- 3M cutting 1,800 jobs around world in 4th quarter
- Central America promotes joint credit fund
- Detroit Three automakers seek aid from Canada
- Hewlett-Packard says top EDS executive to retire
- Workers recall the moment they became jobless
- Inflation at 32.7 percent in Venezuelan capital
- Movers roundup: Chesapeake Energy, Chico's FAS
- Movers roundup: Berry Petroleum, AT&T
- Movers roundup: Boeing, Smithfield Foods
Text Size 
DES MOINES, Iowa - Investors and insurance industry analysts hope to learn more about how Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. plans to maintain capital levels and manage its variable annuity business when the company hosts a meeting in New York on Friday.
Insurance analysts have been concerned about companies maintaining adequate capital and managing balance sheet risk and the Connecticut-based life, property and casualty insurance company is no exception.
Credit Suisse analyst Thomas Gallagher said in a Dec. 2 investor note that Hartford has significant uncertainty around its variable annuity business, which offers policies that have guaranteed minimum payouts or monthly withdrawal benefits. Analysts have expressed concern that the payout obligations may exceed the amount of capital the company has on hand, due to the plunge in the overall market and Hartford Financials' own shares this year.
Hartford shares traded around $70 a share as recently as mid-September but have fallen to around $7 in recent days. They closed Thursday at $7.21.
Gallagher said another issue is the company's exposure to high-risk commercial mortgage-backed securities, which have cost many companies holding the investments hundreds of millions of dollars. He said the company should take actions to conserve capital.
He would consider the stock a good value at its current price if the company were to emerge from the current crisis without a major overhaul, however, Gallagher said he thinks an additional recapitalization or restructuring program is likely if stock and credit markets remain depressed.
The company said last month it plans to buy Sanford, Fla.-based Federal Trust Corp. for about $10 billion, and become a thrift holding company. That move would enable it to take part in the federal bailout program, providing between $1.1 billion and $3.4 billion in government funds.
Print
Email
Del.icio.us
Digg It
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes