Hartford Offers Workers Lump-Sum Payments To Ease Burden of Pension Benefit Obligation

Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. is working to reduce its retirement obligations by paying former employees to give up their pensions.

Last month, the insurer offered voluntary lump-sum payments to about 13,500 workers who had left the company and hadn’t yet started receiving pension payments, Hartford said Oct. 27 in its quarterly filing. The former workers have until November to make a decision and will get the payouts the following month.

Hartford has divested life insurance and retirement units to focus on property-casualty coverage. The firm has also offered payments to clients to give up some retirement products it sold ...