A.M. Best Affirms Ratings of Hartford Life; Assigns Rating to GMTN Program.

OLDWICK, N.J. -- A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating (FSR) of A+ (Superior) and assigned issuer credit ratings (ICR) of "aa-" to the key life/health insurance subsidiaries of Hartford Life, Inc. (HLI), with the exception of Hartford Life Insurance Company (Hartford Life). A.M. Best has also affirmed the ICR of "a-" and the debt ratings of HLI's existing securities and shelf registration. Concurrently, A.M. Best has affirmed the FSR of A+ (Superior) and the ICR of "aa-" of Hartford Life. HLI and its affiliates constitute the life operations of The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. (The Hartford) (NYSE: HIG).

Additionally, A.M. Best has assigned a debt rating of "aa-" to the new funding agreement-backed securities (FABS) program established by Hartford Life and a debt rating of "aa-" to the outstanding global medium-term notes (GMTN) issued under the program. All ratings have a stable outlook. All companies listed above are domiciled in Hartford, CT. (See link below for a detailed listing of all ratings.)

HLI's ratings reflect its strong market positions in several life insurance and retirement savings businesses (most notably variable annuities), diversified sources of revenues and earnings, broad multi-channel distribution, excellent management, strong operating performance and strong capitalization. Partly offsetting these positive rating factors is HLI's ongoing challenge of continuing to accumulate capital to support substantial sales growth across its various product lines and geographic locations, as well as managing the risks associated with life and annuity secondary guarantees through product design and effective hedging. Moreover, HLI's operating results and capitalization are exposed to a potential downturn in the equity markets as roughly half of its operating earnings are derived from retail separate account products. A.M. Best expects the life operations to continue to maintain sound risk-adjusted capitalization in the near to medium term, primarily from solid statutory earnings, and if needed, financial support from The Hartford.

Although The Hartford's financial leverage has historically been at the high end of A.M. Best's tolerance for its debt ratings, the company has made substantial progress in reducing all-in financial leverage over the past two years to less than 25% while delivering strong, double-digit interest coverage. These abating leverage concerns are further offset by The Hartford's capital markets presence, sustainable earnings power and diversified business platform.

Hartford Life's unregistered global FABS program, established in April 2006, provides for the issuance of up to $2 billion of secured GMTNs to Rule 144A and Regulation S investors. The notes will be issued by Hartford Life Institutional Funding, a statutory trust organized in series and formed under the laws of the state of Delaware. The notes of each series are secured by one or more funding agreements issued by Hartford Life, which is domiciled in and subject to the laws of the state of Connecticut.

Based on A.M. Best's analysis of the FABS structure utilized by HLI, its programs and notes will carry the ICR of "aa-" of Hartford Life. This reflects that each series of notes are secured by a perfected security interest in the underlying funding agreements, which are unsecured obligations of Hartford Life's general account. In addition, in the event of a liquidation or rehabilitation of a Connecticut domestic insurance company, the trust, as owner of the applicable funding agreement, would be accorded a claim status, which ranks equally (i.e. pari passu) with the claims of policyholders, beneficiaries and insureds of the insurer. Therefore, in assigning the above ratings, A.M. Best believes that all investors in HLI's FABS are exposed to the inherent credit, liquidity and business risks of the sponsoring insurance company, Hartford Life.

For a complete listing of The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc.'s FSRs, ICRs and debt ratings, please visit www.ambest.com/press/062107hartford.pdf.

A.M. Best Co., established in 1899, is the world's oldest and most authoritative insurance rating and information source. For more information, visit A.M. Best's Web site at www.ambest.com.