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WEST HARTFORD — Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. said Thursday that Chairman and Chief Executive Ramani Ayer will retire by the end of the year.
The insurer's board is looking externally for a successor, according to a statement.
Ayer, 62, has been with the company for 36 years, 12 years of them as CEO.
In 2008, Ayer received compensation valued at nearly $7.3 million, down 31 percent from the previous year, according to an Associated Press calculation of figures disclosed in a regulatory filings. In 2007, Ayer received nearly $10.5 million in compensation.
The lower compensation for Ayer came during a tumultuous year for the insurance sector. The sector struggled along with the broader financial-services sector as the credit crisis mushroomed throughout the year.
At the company's annual meeting last month, Ayer defended his company's response to the recession that has hit the insurer hard. In April, his company posted a $1.2 billion first-quarter loss, and said it is suspending sales of annuities in Japan and the U.K. and halting plans to sell the products in Germany in a move to cut costs.
Ayer said Hartford Financial is focusing on becoming more "U.S.-centric" and taking other actions to preserve its capital, reduce risk and stabilize its ratings.
Hartford Financial has cut its dividend and is one of six insurers allowed access by the government to tap the Treasury Department's Troubled Asset Relief Program for additional capital. The company is eligible for $3.4 billion in TARP funds.
Shares of Hartford Financial rose 30 cents to $15.18 in premarket trading Thursday.
