Talcott Financial Group life insurance

Overview

Talcott Financial Group is the former life and annuity business of The Hartford. Its main U.S. insurer, Talcott Resolution Life Insurance Company, was called Hartford Life Insurance Company until The Hartford sold it in 2018. If you own a life insurance policy or annuity that says "Hartford Life" or "Hartford Life and Annuity," it is now issued by a Talcott company. Individual life insurance policies are serviced by Prudential, which took over The Hartford's individual life business through reinsurance in 2013.

The Talcott Holdings group ranked #49 among U.S. life insurance groups by 2024 individual life direct premiums written, according to NAIC market share data, with about $680.9 million in premiums and a 0.44% market share. Those premiums come from policies sold years ago. Talcott still counts them as direct premiums because it remains the legal insurer, even though the risk is reinsured to Prudential. Talcott stopped selling new life insurance and annuities in 2012. At the end of 2023 it also administered about $42 billion of private placement life insurance account value, a type of policy sold to wealthy buyers and institutions.

Since 2021 Talcott has been owned by funds managed by Sixth Street, a global investment firm. Under Sixth Street, its strategy changed: it now takes over blocks of business from other insurers through reinsurance, and in 2025 it began selling new annuities again. Talcott says it has about $136 billion in assets under management.

History

Talcott traces its history to the incorporation of Hartford Life Insurance Company, a Massachusetts stock life insurer, in 1902. The company moved its domicile to Connecticut in 1978 and expanded into structured settlements (1978), variable annuities (1980), fixed annuities (1984), corporate and bank-owned life insurance (1993) and other retirement products. By 2003 it was the largest U.S. seller of variable annuities, with $15 billion of sales, according to Morningstar figures the company cites.

In 2012 The Hartford stopped selling new annuities and life insurance through this business. In 2013 it sold its retirement plans business to MassMutual and substantially all of its individual life business to Prudential, both through reinsurance. Those deals did not move the policies to new insurance companies: Hartford Life stayed the legal insurer, while MassMutual and Prudential took on the business and its servicing.

The Hartford put the remaining run-off business, called Talcott Resolution, up for sale. On May 31, 2018, it closed the sale to an investor group led by Cornell Capital, Atlas Merchant Capital, TRB Advisors, Global Atlantic, Pine Brook and J. Safra Group, for total consideration of about $2.05 billion. Hartford Life Insurance Company was renamed Talcott Resolution Life Insurance Company.

On June 30, 2021, an affiliate of Sixth Street acquired Talcott from that investor group. The company was placed under a Bermuda-based parent, TR Re, Ltd., and the brand Talcott Financial Group was created in 2022. Since then Talcott has reinsured large blocks from other insurers:

• Allianz: about $20 billion of fixed indexed annuities.
• Principal Financial: about $25 billion of retail fixed annuities and universal life with secondary guarantees in 2022, after Principal left the retail individual market. Principal still services those policies.
• Guardian: about $7.1 billion of variable annuity reserves, closed November 1, 2022. Talcott agreed to take over administration within two years of closing.
• MetLife: about $10 billion of U.S. retail variable annuity and rider reserves, announced April 30, 2025 and expected to close by the end of 2025.

Life insurance products

Talcott does not sell new life insurance. It is the legal insurer on older policies, which ended up there for one of these reasons:

• Hartford Life individual life policies, including universal life, variable universal life and traditional life, issued by Hartford Life Insurance Company or Hartford Life and Annuity Insurance Company. Because of the 2013 reinsurance deal, Prudential handles service, including premiums, loans, beneficiary changes and death claims. Talcott's contact page also lists policies issued by Union Security Insurance Company and John Alden Life Insurance Company as serviced by Prudential.
• Private placement life insurance sold to high-net-worth buyers and institutions.
• Group benefits policies issued by Talcott Resolution Life Insurance Company. These are serviced by The Hartford, including group retiree health.
• Abbey Life Insurance Company of Canada policies, administered by Talcott Resolution Life Insurance Company.

Your policy's terms do not change because of these ownership moves. The same guarantees, premiums and cash values still apply. See when your life insurance policy is sold to another company and closed blocks: what happens to policies a company stops selling.

Other products

Talcott began selling new retail annuities in 2025, issued by Talcott Resolution Life and Annuity Insurance Company in 49 states and Washington, D.C. (not New York):

• EverGuard Assurance 10 and the EverGuard Aspire Series fixed indexed annuities.
• EverStead MYGA, a multi-year guaranteed annuity.

It also services older Hartford Life and Union Security variable and fixed annuities, structured settlements and pension contracts. Its institutional business offers reinsurance and acquisitions of whole insurance companies to other insurers.

Buying and service

New Talcott annuities are sold through financial professionals and independent marketing organizations, not directly online.

Where to call depends on what you own:

• Hartford Life individual life policies: call Prudential at 800-243-5433 (traditional life) or 800-231-5453 (variable life), 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Eastern, weekdays, or use your online Policy Services account.
• Talcott Resolution or Union Security annuities bought before 2024: call the Annuity Service Center at 800-862-6668 (in force) or 877-372-2935 (annuitized), 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern Monday through Thursday and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday. Mail goes to Talcott Resolution – Annuity Service Operations, P.O. Box 14293, Lexington, KY 40512. Automated balances are at 888-488-2228, 24 hours a day.
• EverGuard and EverStead annuities: call the Talcott Retail Service Center at 855-342-5834, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Eastern weekdays, or use the client portal.
• Structured settlements and pensions: call 800-678-2282.
• Group benefits: contact The Hartford.

Claims

For a death claim on a former Hartford Life individual life policy, contact Prudential at the life numbers above. For an annuity death claim, contact the Talcott Annuity Service Center at 800-862-6668. Have the policy or contract number, a certified death certificate and the claimant's identification ready. If you are not sure whether a relative had a Hartford policy, the The NAIC Life Insurance Policy Locator: how to use it can search on your behalf; see how to find a lost life insurance policy.

Ratings and reputation

Talcott's website lists these financial strength ratings for Talcott Resolution Life Insurance Company and Talcott Resolution Life and Annuity Insurance Company:

• AM Best: A- (Excellent), stable, as of February 20, 2026.
• Fitch: A-, stable, as of October 20, 2025.
• Moody's: A3, stable, as of July 22, 2026.
• S&P: BBB+, positive outlook, as of December 22, 2025.

These ratings are below the A+ and AA levels held by many large life insurers. Talcott is not ranked in the J.D. Power U.S. Individual Life Insurance Study because it does not sell individual life insurance.

Like other insurers owned by investment firms, Talcott reinsures much of its business to affiliates in Bermuda and the Cayman Islands. Regulators and analysts debate whether these arrangements are adequately capitalized; see private equity's push into life insurance and Offshore reinsurance and Bermuda: why it matters to policyholders. State guaranty association protection applies to policies issued by Talcott's U.S. insurers, as with any licensed insurer.

Who it suits

Talcott matters mostly to people who already own a Hartford Life policy or annuity, or a block Talcott has reinsured, and need to know who services it. For life insurance, the practical answer is Prudential. For new buyers, Talcott offers only fixed indexed and multi-year guaranteed annuities through financial professionals, and its ratings are lower than many established annuity sellers.

• Strengths: Long operating history as Hartford Life; clear published service contacts for each block; A- ratings from AM Best and Fitch and A3 from Moody's; new annuity products since 2025.
• Weaknesses: Sells no life insurance; ratings in the A-/BBB+ range, below many peers; owned by an investment firm, with heavy use of offshore affiliate reinsurance; service is split among Talcott, Prudential and The Hartford, which can confuse policyholders.

How to contact Talcott Financial Group