Hartford Financial Services Group

Hartford Insurance Group has agreed to acquire Equitable's Employee Benefits business, expanding its presence in the employee benefits market and adding new technology capabilities. The deal brings unified portals and real-time API integrations that align with Hartford's push into data and cloud-based tools, particularly for small and midsize employers. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026, subject to regulatory approvals. Investors will watch how the acquisition's funding and integration costs fit alongside Hartford's existing share repurchase program, which runs through 2028.

Equitable Holdings reported second-quarter 2026 non-GAAP operating earnings of $1.75 per share, a 24% year-over-year increase, while assets under management and administration reached a record $1.2 trillion, up 10% from a year ago. The company posted a net loss of $453 million driven by noneconomic hedge portfolio impacts from strong equity markets, and returned $449 million to shareholders including $366 million in share repurchases. Retirement net inflows were $1.7 billion, wealth management advisory inflows hit $2 billion, and AllianceBernstein returned to positive net inflows of $0.8 billion with private markets AUM reaching $91 billion. Equitable also announced the sale of its Employee Benefits business to The Hartford and remains on track to close its merger with Corebridge by year-end 2026, a deal expected to be at least 10% accretive to earnings and cash flow per share by 2028.

The Hartford Insurance Group reported second-quarter fiscal 2026 earnings per share of $3.42, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.12 by 9.6% and rising 6% year over year. Revenues came in at $5.23 billion, topping the consensus mark of $5.19 billion by 0.8% and improving 6.8% from a year ago. The results were driven by higher investment income, premium growth in Business Insurance, and improving Personal Insurance profitability, though partly offset by higher expenses, catastrophe losses, and weaker Employee Benefits results. Net investment income before tax surged 22% to $800 million, while earned premiums grew 5.3% to $6.3 billion. The company also announced a new $4.2 billion share repurchase program effective August 1, 2026, through the end of 2028, a 27% increase from the prior authorization.

Corporate Insight released a report examining certificate of insurance generation and additional insured capabilities across nine carriers, finding that while online COI generation has become standard, gaps in visibility and support persist. The report covers biBerk, FLIP, The Hartford, Hiscox, Liberty Mutual, Progressive, Simply Business, State Farm, and Thimble, noting that Thimble and The Hartford lead by allowing fully online COI generation and additional insured additions without agent involvement. Simply Business stands out with a dedicated chatbot for generating both basic and custom COIs. The research highlights that discoverability remains a challenge, with The Hartford and Simply Business offering multiple navigation paths, while Liberty Mutual and Thimble provide certificate reuse features. Jacob Littman, insurance research manager at CI, emphasized that many carriers still treat adding an additional insured as an afterthought, and the report recommends building standalone additional insured journeys and improving disclosures.

The Hartford has appointed Randy Larsen to its Board of Directors, effective September 1. He will serve on the board's Finance, Investment and Risk Management Committee and the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee. Larsen most recently served as CEO of AssuredPartners from 2023 through its acquisition by Gallagher in 2025, and previously spent 13 years with the firm in various senior leadership roles. Chairman and CEO Christopher Swift cited Larsen's deep insurance-industry expertise, strong financial acumen, and experience leading a major brokerage as valuable additions to the board.

The Hartford's Board of Directors declared a quarterly dividend of $0.60 per share of common stock, payable October 2 to shareholders of record as of September 1. The board also declared a dividend of $375 per share on its Series G preferred stock, equivalent to $0.375 per depository share, payable November 16 to shareholders of record as of November 2.