Item 2. MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
(Dollar amounts in millions except share data unless otherwise stated)
Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations ("MD&A") addresses the financial condition of The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. and its subsidiaries (collectively, "The Hartford" or the "Company") as of March 31, 2009, compared with December 31, 2008, and its results of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2009, compared to the equivalent 2008 periods. This discussion should be read in conjunction with the MD&A in The Hartford's 2008 Form 10-K Annual Report.
Certain of the statements contained herein are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and include estimates and assumptions related to economic, competitive and legislative developments. These forward-looking statements are subject to change and uncertainties that are, in many instances, beyond the Company's control and have been made based upon management's expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effect upon the Company. There can be no assurance that future developments will be in accordance with management's expectations or that the effect of future developments on The Hartford will be those anticipated by management. Actual results could differ materially from those expected by the Company, depending on the outcome of various factors, including, but not limited to, those set forth in Part II, Item 1A, Risk Factors as well as Part I, Item 1A, Risk Factors in The Hartford's 2008 Form 10-K Annual Report. These important risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, uncertainties related to the depth and duration of the current recession and financial market conditions, which continued to adversely affect the Company's business and results in the first quarter of 2009, the extent of the impact on the Company's results and prospects of recent downgrades in the Company's financial strength and credit ratings and the impact of any further downgrades on the Company's business and results; the success of management's initiatives to stabilize the Company's ratings and mitigate and reduce risks associated with various business lines; whether, if and to what extent the federal government will approve the Company's application to participate in the Capital Purchase Program under the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008; changes in financial and capital markets, including changes in interest rates, credit spreads, equity prices and foreign exchange rates; the inability to effectively mitigate the impact of equity market volatility on the Company's financial position and results of operations arising from obligations under annuity product guarantees; the amount of statutory capital that the Company has, changes to the statutory reserves and/or risk based capital requirements, and the Company's ability to hold sufficient statutory capital to maintain financial strength and credit ratings; the possibility of general economic and business conditions that are less favorable than anticipated; the potential for differing interpretations of the methodologies, estimations and assumptions that underlie the valuation of the Company's financial instruments that could result in changes to investment valuations; the subjective determinations that underlie the Company's evaluation of other-than-temporary impairments on available-for-sale securities; losses due to nonperformance or defaults by others; the availability of our commercial paper program; the potential for further acceleration of DAC amortization; the potential for further impairments of our goodwill; the difficulty in predicting the Company's potential exposure for asbestos and environmental claims; the possible occurrence of terrorist attacks; the response of reinsurance companies under reinsurance contracts and the availability, pricing and adequacy of reinsurance to protect the Company against losses; the possibility of unfavorable loss development; the incidence and severity of catastrophes, both natural and man-made; stronger than anticipated competitive activity; unfavorable judicial or legislative developments; the potential effect of domestic and foreign regulatory developments, including those which could increase the Company's business costs and required capital levels; the Company's ability to distribute its products through distribution channels, both current and future; the uncertain effects of emerging claim and coverage issues; the ability of the Company's subsidiaries to pay dividends to the Company; the Company's ability to adequately price its property and casualty policies; the ability to recover the Company's systems and information in the event of a disaster or other unanticipated event; potential for difficulties arising from outsourcing relationships; potential changes in federal or state tax laws, including changes impacting the availability of the separate account dividend received deduction; the Company's ability to protect its intellectual property and defend against claims of infringement; and other factors described in such forward-looking statements.