Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. - FXDFR DB REDEEM 15/04/2042 USD 25

Strong overall performance + capital return (good/surprising): - Q2 core earnings: $945M ($3.42/share) with trailing 12-month ROE (core) of 18.7%. - Book value per share ex-AOCI: $78.91, up 7% vs. year-end and 15% vs. a year ago. - Board approved new $4.2B share repurchase authorization (through Dec 2028); existing authorization still had ~$650M remaining as of June 30. - Q2 buybacks: $450M (3.4M shares). Company expects ~$475M/quarter for the rest of 2026. - Strategic “monetize noncore” surprise/positive: agreement to sell Hartford Funds to Wellington Management, expected to generate cash proceeds supporting buybacks.

Business Insurance remains profitable with disciplined underwriting (good): - Business Insurance Q2: written premium +5%; underlying combined ratio 89.3. - Small business: premium +7%, combined ratio 86.5 (excellent execution; growth helped by double-digit increases in package and ENS). - Middle & large: premium +4%, combined ratio 95.3 (includes normal volatility; management cited elevated non-cat property losses from a few large fires). - Global Specialty: premium +4%, combined ratio 85.8 (up vs prior year mainly due to higher international loss ratio and higher expense ratio driven by technology costs).

Pricing/market dynamics: holding up overall, but property moderated + competition pressures (mixed/challenges): - Business insurance renewal pricing (ex WC): +5.8% in Q2 (relatively consistent). - Commercial auto & general liability pricing still strong and above loss trend; Umbrella/excess had some of the highest increases. - Property remains profitable but pricing moderated; management says aggregate property pricing for small business package and middle market general industries is still in the mid-single digits. - Management expectation: small renewal pricing ~7%, middle market ex-comp ~4.4% (down vs earlier quarter), indicating competitive pressure—especially in middle/large.