Case Information: Hartford Financial Service Group ERISA Litigation

This case is pending in the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut. It includes all participants in the Hartford Investment and Savings Plan (the “Plan”), a 401(k) plan sponsored by the Hartford Fire Insurance Company of The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. (“Hartford” or the “Company”) during the period from December 7, 2007 through the present.

Izard Nobel LLP was appointed as Co-Lead Counsel by the Court on January 21, 2009.  The ERISA Plaintiffs filed their Consolidated Complaint on March 23, 2009.  The Complaint alleges that Defendants breached their fiduciary duties to Plan Participants by allowing the investment of Plan assets into Company stock when it was not a prudent investment for retirement accounts. In particular, Defendants knew or should have known that Hartford stock was an imprudent investment due to: (i) the Company’s exposure to losses from residential and commercial mortgage-backed securities in its investment portfolios; (ii) the Company’s exposure to investment losses due to investments in the troubled financials market, including investments in Lehman Brothers, AIG, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Washington Mutual; (iii) the Company’s exposure to decreasing capital levels, due to the deterioration in asset values and a decline in earnings; and (iv) the effect of these problems on the Hartford’s variable annuity business.