Paulson's activism spurred by Hartford's performance vs. peers

John Paulson continues to urge Hartford Financial Services Group to spin off its property and casualty business, saying the combined value of the two firms after a breakup would be approximately 50% higher than its value as of March 14. Hartford has significantly underperformed its peers over the past year, posting a total return of -16.8% vs. -1.5% for the Dow Jones KBW Insurance index. The broader S&P 500 returned 11.1% during the same period.