Hartford Financial Services on Wednesday said it would sell or pursue “other strategic alternatives” for its retirement plan services unit and other businesses.
The retirement unit provided record keeping to 33,160 defined contribution plans last year, placing sixth in Pensions & Investments' upcoming annual special report on record keepers. The Hartford also ranked 18th for the number of participants, with nearly 1.52 million.Hartford's record-keeping clients had a total of $52.3 billion in assets, placing it 19th among record keepers surveyed.
The unit produced $766 million in revenue last year, the company said Wednesday.
“These are strong, successful businesses,” Christopher Swift, executive vice president and CFO, said in a conference call with analysts on Wednesday, referring to divisions designated for sale — retirement plans, individual life insurance and Woodbury Financial, a broker-dealer business. But the units don't fit with the company's long-term strategy, he said.
In the call, Hartford executives predicted the retirement business and other designated units would be sold within 12 months.
