The Hartford Insurance Group, Inc. — Form 10-Q Summary
Reporting period: Quarter and nine months ended September 30, 2026. Amounts are in U.S. dollars; financial statement amounts are generally in millions unless stated otherwise. The interim statements are unaudited and were reviewed by Deloitte & Touche LLP.
Business context and reporting period
The Hartford primarily provides property and casualty insurance and employee benefits insurance and services in the U.S. and selected international markets. Its reportable segments are Business Insurance, Personal Insurance, P&C Other Operations and Employee Benefits. Hartford Funds is classified as discontinued operations and included in Corporate pending its sale.
After quarter-end, on October 13, 2026, Hartford Life and Accident Insurance Company completed the acquisition of Equitable Holdings’ employee benefits business. The acquired business is not included in the September 30 financial statements; management did not expect the acquisition to materially affect financial position, results or cash flows.
Financial performance and key metrics
| Metric | Q3 2026 | Q3 2025 | Nine months 2026 | Nine months 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total revenue | $7,220 | $6,946 | $21,424 | $20,208 |
| Income from continuing operations, net of tax | $1,262 | $1,021 | $3,046 | $2,543 |
| Net income | $1,323 | $1,080 | $3,477 | $2,705 |
| Net income available to common stockholders | $1,317 | $1,074 | $3,461 | $2,689 |
| Diluted EPS from continuing operations | $4.60 | $3.56 | $10.96 | $8.78 |
| Diluted EPS, including discontinued operations | $4.82 | $3.77 | $12.52 | $9.34 |
| Net investment income | $850 | $755 | $2,384 | $2,065 |
| Net realized losses | $(116) | $(17) | $(104) | $(85) |
| Operating cash flow | Not separately presented | Not separately presented | $5,185 | $4,114 |
Revenue rose 4% in Q3 and 6% year to date. Earned premiums increased 4% and 5%, respectively, while investment income increased 13% and 15%. Higher investment income reflected stronger returns from limited partnerships and other alternative investments and a larger invested-asset base. The nine-month alternative-investment income was $345 versus $143 a year earlier; returns may be variable and are generally reported with a lag.
Reported earnings benefited materially from the A&E reinsurance commutation described below. Core earnings, a non-GAAP measure, were $956 in Q3 2026 versus $1,022 in Q3 2025, and $2,713 for the first nine months versus $2,546. Core earnings exclude, among other items, realized investment losses, the retroactive-reinsurance deferred-gain change and discontinued operations.
Underwriting and segment trends: The P&C combined ratio improved 7.7 points in Q3, to 87.5, primarily reflecting favorable prior-year development; Business Insurance’s ratio was 91.3 versus 88.8, while Personal Insurance’s was 93.2 versus 88.7. For the first nine months, Personal Insurance improved to 90.3 from 96.2, while Business Insurance worsened to 92.5 from 90.0. Business Insurance underwriting gain declined to $327 from $397 in Q3 and to $828 from $1,028 year to date, as higher underlying losses and, in Q3, catastrophe losses offset premium growth. Personal Insurance underwriting gain was $62 versus $107 in Q3, but $265 versus $107 year to date. Employee Benefits net income fell 8% in Q3 to $132 and 7% year to date to $397; its loss ratio increased to 74.9% from 70.1% in Q3 and to 73.0% from 70.4% year to date, mainly due to disability claims.
Balance sheet, capital and liquidity: At September 30, total assets were $87.1 billion, total stockholders’ equity was $18.9 billion and long-term debt was $4.375 billion. Debt was 23% of stockholders’ equity and 19% of total capitalization. Common stockholders’ equity excluding AOCI was $22.4 billion. AOCI was a loss of $3.843 billion, compared with a loss of $2.057 billion at year-end 2025, primarily reflecting increased unrealized losses on available-for-sale fixed maturities. Gross unrealized losses on those securities were $3.084 billion, up from $1.424 billion at year-end, mainly due to higher interest rates; the Company stated it did not intend, and did not expect to be required, to sell the securities at a loss.
Nine-month operating cash flow was $5.185 billion, investing cash outflow $3.224 billion and financing cash outflow $1.933 billion. Ending cash and restricted cash was $178 million. Operating cash flow included the $1.120 billion cash received in the A&E commutation; the Company said the proceeds were largely reinvested in fixed maturities and short-term investments. The holding company reported approximately $1.5 billion of liquid resources, a $750 million undrawn revolving facility and $1.72 billion available under intercompany liquidity arrangements. Long-term debt was essentially unchanged from year-end.
The Company repurchased $1.4 billion of common stock in the first nine months and declared common dividends of $1.80 per share year to date. As of September 30, $4.37 billion remained under its repurchase authorizations. The Board authorized an additional $4.2 billion program effective August 1, 2026 through December 31, 2028; management expected to use most of that authorization in 2027 and 2028.
Material changes, outlook and unusual items
- A&E reinsurance commutation: On September 23, the Company settled and terminated its asbestos and environmental adverse development cover with National Indemnity Company. It reduced the reinsurance recoverable by $317 million to the $1.120 billion commutation amount and received that cash on September 25. It recognized a $497 million pretax benefit from release of the remaining deferred gain. The agreement also resulted in $1.298 billion of net reserves being reassumed. The deferred gain on this cover was zero at September 30. This unusual item materially increased reported P&C earnings and favorable reserve development; the Company’s $1.561 billion of net run-off A&E reserves remain subject to substantial estimation uncertainty.
- Hartford Funds sale: The June 2026 agreement with Wellington Management provides for $300 million cash at closing plus contingent quarterly payments tied to specified business cash flows. The Company expects closing before the end of Q1 2027, subject to customary approvals. It expects an approximately $170 million pre-closing dividend and an estimated after-tax realized loss of approximately $150 million at closing. Contingent consideration is not recognized until received. Hartford Funds contributed $431 million of after-tax discontinued-operations income for the first nine months, including a $251 million tax benefit related to the sale; that benefit boosts reported net income but is not a recurring operating result.
- Catastrophes and reserves: Current-year catastrophe losses were $198 million in Q3 versus $70 million and $650 million year to date versus $749 million. Nine-month P&C prior-year development was favorable by $746 million, including the $533 million benefit from the deferred-gain change. Excluding that item, prior-year P&C development was favorable by $213 million. Reserve revisions included favorable workers’ compensation and personal-lines development, offset in part by increases in general liability and commercial automobile liability.
- Investment and operating outlook: Management estimated 2026 net investment income would increase compared with 2025, citing higher invested assets and higher yields on alternative investments, while noting variability from market conditions. No broader earnings or combined-ratio guidance is stated in the provided filing text.
- Risks and contingencies: Key exposures include volatile catastrophe and weather losses; uncertain asbestos, environmental and long-tail liability reserves, including PFAS-related claims; adverse disability and other claim trends; investment-market, interest-rate, credit and liquidity risks; reinsurer performance; and regulatory, litigation, cyber and operational risks. Management expects ordinary-course litigation liabilities, after recorded provisions, generally not to be material to consolidated financial condition, but notes some matters could materially affect results or cash flows in particular periods. A downgrade could affect ratings, financing and derivative arrangements, although the filing says a one-notch downgrade from current ratings would not trigger additional derivative collateral at quarter-end.
Most important facts for investors to verify
- How much of earnings growth reflects ongoing core performance versus the $497 million pretax A&E deferred-gain benefit and the $251 million Hartford Funds tax benefit.
- Post-commutation A&E reserve adequacy, the $1.561 billion net run-off reserve, and any subsequent development or recovery disputes.
- Whether Business Insurance underlying loss trends and Employee Benefits disability claim incidence improve, and whether Personal Insurance premium and policy-count contraction continues.
- Realized and unrealized investment performance, alternative-investment returns, interest-rate sensitivity and the scale of AFS unrealized losses.
- Hartford Funds sale timing, approvals, pre-closing dividend, closing loss and eventual contingent-payment performance; and the acquired Equitable employee-benefits business’s results after its October 2026 closing.
- Capital deployment, including repurchases and dividends, alongside statutory capital, subsidiary dividend capacity and liquidity needs.