Speaker 1:
From the New York Stock Exchange at the corner of Wall and Broad Streets in New York City, welcome Inside the ICE House. Our podcast from Intercontinental Exchange is your go-to for the latest on markets, leadership, vision, and business. For over 230 years, the NYSE has been the beating heart of global growth. Each week, we bring you inspiring stories of innovators, job creators, and the movers and shakers of capitalism here at the NYSE and ICE's exchanges around the world.
Now, let's go Inside the ICE House. Here's your host, Lance Glinn.
Lance Glinn:
When natural disasters strike insurance companies aren't just financial safety nets, they're lifelines for rebuilding communities. They spring it to action mobilizing resources, assessing damage, processing claims, and delivering relief to those in need. For 215 years the Hartford, that's NYC ticker symbol, H-I-G, has been a steadfast force in helping customers and communities recover from devastation. From the leadership of its first president back in 1810, Nathaniel Terry, to today's division under chairman, CEO and one of our two guests, Christopher Swift, The Hartford has remained committed to supporting those it serves through both hardships and victories.
Joining Chris today is Claire Burns, chief marketing and communications officer for The Hartford. Since 2021, she has led efforts in brand growth, marketing, community relations, customer experience, and now driving the company's rebrand. As The Hartford continues to evolve and prepare for the next 215 years, Chris and Claire are shaping both the company's operations and public identity to embrace the opportunities ahead. Chris, Claire, thanks so much for joining us inside the ICE House.
Christopher Swift:
It's great to be here.
Lance Glinn:
So, for over two centuries, The Hartford has been a trusted source of support guiding customers through both challenges and triumphs. So Chris, as you reflect on the first few months of 2025, with this reputation in mind, how would you just assess the company's position in the insurance industry and its outlook for the rest of the year?
Christopher Swift:
Well, thank you for the question. Again, it's a pleasure to be here. You succinctly described The Hartford's over 215 year history and what we stand for, trust, confidence, resiliency, and our business model, I think, is quite durable these days. We're focused on the property casualty industry and the benefits business, both in property casualty, commercial businesses and personal insurance, and then in our benefits business, think in terms of benefits that are offered through the work site.
So, our outlook is actually quite bullish as we look into 2025, and there's a lot of uncertainty out there, as I know you know, but generally we're still pretty sanguine about the operating environment. And I always try to say is that when the economy is good, it's good for The Hartford, it's good for our businesses, it's good for our shareholders, it's good for our employees and our communities. So, I'm optimistic about what we face in 2025, knowing that there's going to be challenges, maybe even surprises, obviously with a new administration. But, again, I think we're well positioned and we really have momentum going. When you have momentum going for you, it really keeps going and the team is confident, it's motivated, it wants to win, wants to take care of all our customer's needs more holistically. So, it's a great feeling right now inside the building.
Lance Glinn:
And you mentioned 215 years, an incredible milestone for any company. Older than 33 states in the union, 18 years younger than we are here at the NYSE, so it's such a rich legacy. Chris, do you feel heightened sense of responsibility each day to uphold that long-standing value, while obviously steering the company towards continued success?
Christopher Swift:
Well, I would say I think you're getting at our culture, our purpose, how we think internally. And look, I've been CEO for about 10 years, and there's many CEOs that have come before me that have given us many gifts to allow us to compete, to allow us to think differently about the future. So yeah, it's a great honor, it's a great privilege, and our employees and our culture I think are very special.
And I always try to just describe our culture as one that is empathetic towards our customers, because we're in the business of paying claims. Two, we like to hear many voices around the table with ideas, particularly as we try to grow and become more innovative. I think having multiple voices, multiple perspectives, helps one another. We're really supportive of each other and our teammates.
That doesn't mean we're always going to agree, and it doesn't mean we don't have a food fight now and again, but there's a general support. And I would say that lends into empathy too, empathy towards fellow employees, communities, and ultimately our shareholders. So, yeah, we feel good about how we operate for 215 years.
Lance Glinn:
So Claire, since joining The Hartford in 2021, as chief marketing and chief communications officer, you've overseen key areas including enterprise growth, marketing, branding, communications, and community relations. So, given your role in shaping the company's brand identity, how do you balance The Hartford's two century legacy with its modern day presence to create a cohesive and compelling image?
Claire Burns:
That's an excellent question, and when we think about every day, it's an honor to be a 215-year-old company. And if you think about our purpose, which Chris described, our purpose is underwriting human achievement, and that's something we have done proudly for two centuries. We've been here for the most important moments in our country's history. We underwrote the building of the Hoover Dam, the Golden Gate Bridge, the St. Lawrence Seaway. We underwrote Abraham Lincoln's house. So, we have this wonderful legacy and history, and we want to make sure our brand reflects that.
But, as you know, a brand is the most important and tangible asset of a company, and we want it to evolve with the business, and as we think about the future, we think about where we're positioned today based on the success that Chris described, we are ready to meet this moment in a modern contemporary way, and we want our brand to reflect that. So, that's the stewardship we're taking, as I think about the brand, as wow, we want to really think about that 200 years of pattern recognition, data analytics expertise, but how that can help our customers today and into the future through foresight and navigation of risk.
Lance Glinn:
And The Hartford team, obviously here at the NYC to celebrate the launch of a rebranding, an evolution of the iconic logo that we all recognize. So, Claire, can you just walk us through the thought process behind the transformation from the colors, to the font, to preserving the signature stag? How did you and your team approach designing this new logo?
Claire Burns:
The design process has taken us almost a year, but it's been very detail oriented and focused on all of the attributes we're trying to convey with the new brand. So, we want to convey that stability, solidity and strength from the past, with our legacy, we wanted to convey confidence and we wanted to convey trust. And if you think about the logo that we've created, the logo mark is a little bit different, it draws from the iconic stag and brings that stag forward as that sign of strength, that sign of confidence, that sign of resilience that's been with us in our logo since 1861, but it also helps us think about a fresh way of looking to the future.
So, that stag in our new logo mark that we're releasing today, he's looking over his shoulder in a very strong pose, but he's looking toward the future, gazing to the future and looking confidently over his herd, the herd being the company, but also the customers and the communities that we serve. So, landing on that stag logo mark, as you can imagine, people in the company have very strong feelings about the stag, and when people ask how our leadership team came to grips with that decision, we knew the stag was going to be part of it, we just weren't quite sure what it was going to look like. And there was a lot of debate about the pose, the stance, the antlers.
Lance Glinn:
Every little detail.
Claire Burns:
Every little detail, but we feel like the logo mark that we landed on is really a wonderful representation of where we're headed. The other goal we had in addition to conveying those attributes was to create some flexibility. So, our logo mark that we had coming up to this day, since 2010, was a rectangular block logo, and it served us well at the time, but as we moved into more digital assets, it's really hard to work around that rectangular block. So, we wanted a system that was flexible where we could pull that apart, so we can use the word mark, we can use the logo mark, we can use the stag in his full grandeur, we can use the stag cropped. And so, we now have a lot of ways to represent it digitally that we didn't have before.
Finally, you asked about the colors, and I'm excited about the colors. We picked them very intentionally. So, the black is intended to convey that strength and create a lasting impression. It sets us apart from our competitors. If you look at the insurance industry logo mark universe, there are a lot of them in the blue family, at least in the Western world. In the Eastern world, there's a little bit more red, but this black stands apart, and we believe it's bold.
We also have in our color palette the color claret, which is a slightly more modern representation of the maroon that we've had in the past, but it brings forward legacy. And then we also have a new color, which is fuchsia, which is meant to convey energy and modernity, which I'm modeling today. Chris is modeling the claret and the fuchsia in his tie, but we really want the color palette to reflect all those different traits.
Last but not least, the font, which is called Trust, we were so excited because insurance as an industry is all about trust, and our company is really trying to be the most trusted insurer with our customers. And so, that there was literally a font called Trust got us excited. That no one else was using it got us even more excited, because it's relatively new. It was inspired by the wording on the back of a coin, and it says, "In God we trust." And that font was the inspiration for it, but it's been streamlined, modernized, and we're using it now as our primary font. And that's more than you wanted to know about our brand.
Lance Glinn:
No, no, that is great. It's really interesting and I think very insightful to hear about all the little details that go into a logo, whether it is the font, whether it is the colors. You mentioned fuchsia and claret, I guess I'm representing the signature blacks, there you go.
Claire Burns:
And the warm gray that's in the background. Love it.
Lance Glinn:
A hundred percent. But it really is interesting to hear all the little details that I think a lot of people don't necessarily think about when they just see a logo. But obviously the behind the scenes of it is so insightful, and you really have to focus on every little bit and every little piece.
Claire Burns:
Well, and I will say that our CEO compelled us to be very intentional about every decision. When we recommended a stag, he said, "Why is it facing that way?" And we really got into the details and it was fun.
Christopher Swift:
The nose.
Claire Burns:
You were very particular about the nose.
Christopher Swift:
Yeah.
Lance Glinn:
Like I said, every little [inaudible 00:11:25].
Claire Burns:
He's got a great nose, but it used to look like a teacup.
Lance Glinn:
Again, every little detail though, every little detail matters on Chris. Look, the business landscape it's constantly evolving, right, from the rapid integration of AI to shifting needs of consumers and employees. So, as companies adapt, obviously their brands must adapt with them. But why now? Why 2025 to make this decision? Could have been last year, could have been the year before, why 2025 to go through with this rebranding?
Christopher Swift:
I think if you look at our history and where we are today, we're intentionally pivoting to be more of a growth-orientated, innovative company. I think we've done great things in the past, but as we think about our economies, as we think about our country, as we think about the world we want to lead. We want to be that trusted leader that our brand stands for, and with other dimensions too. But so, yeah, it's part of our strategy and we wanted to have the brand come along with our strategic orientation.
And as Claire said, in my own words, we're taking the best of the past in the history, maintaining our image with the stag, but we're also in a digital age that gives us greater flexibility with a color pattern that I think is regal, royal, pretty cool-looking in other ways. So, those are some of the reasons why now. And it's because we're a leader in a digital age, and we ultimately want to have a brand that reflects where we are today.
But more importantly, as Claire talked about looking over the herd, our customer centricity is forefront in our minds these days with products, with technology, with risk, solutions, with resiliency. And so, to have the brand ultimately focused on that customer orientation, I think is also a very, very powerful message.
Claire Burns:
Can I add something here?
Lance Glinn:
Sure.
Claire Burns:
Because I think Chris is being very modest. When you think about his tenure as our CEO, and when the logo mark that we had prior to today was really reflective of 2010 when we created it, which was a very different time for the company, for the industry, for the country. And it signified blue skies, there's literally blue in that logo, and the stag is looking forward. But over the last 10 years, Chris has fundamentally reshaped the business. He's taken on some acquisitions of new companies and capabilities that help us meet the moment very, very differently, and divested of other more volatile lines of business that are not part of our business mix today.
So, that reshaping is an exciting part of it, so we can declare that that reshaping is complete. We're The Hartford Insurance Group now. We're doubling down on insurance as our core and our source of strength for customers, as Chris described, but I want him to get credit for that reshaping and that helped lead up to this moment.
Lance Glinn:
Absolutely. So, as part of the brand refresh, The Hartford's increasing annual philanthropy spending by over 30%. This comes really in two main focus areas, one, supporting small business and revitalizing main streets nationwide, and of course the other helping to support mental health.
So Chris, just first for you, why was the philanthropy aspect of this rebrand so important to your culture, your organizational culture, as well as your own personal?
Christopher Swift:
Well, I would say, again, our employees are very generous with their time, their resources, their talents in giving back to communities, giving back to organizations. Again, that's part of our culture. There's nothing in a book that says you need to donate X amount of dollars or 40 hours of service a year, but I would say 95% of our employees do. And to, again, have a brand that reflects a community, which is in essence another customer in my mind, I thought it was pretty powerful to make a statement that we're going to invest more in our communities where we live and work, and that's what we wanted to do.
Lance Glinn:
And so Claire, one of the, as I mentioned, a couple of focuses when it comes to this philanthropic effort is the focus on mental health. And according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, one in five US adults experience it each year, and one in six US youth aged six to 17 experience a mental health disorder annually. What role do you see companies like The Hartford playing in destigmatizing these conversations in the workplace and just in overall communities?
Claire Burns:
Yeah, absolutely. As Chris mentioned, employee benefits is a big part of our business mix, and we actually cover through our benefits one in nine American workers. And so, that workforce of America is really important to us, and they are, as you described, experiencing a mental health crisis. You described it, the surgeon general has described it. So, in our philanthropic giving, our long and enduring purpose has always been underwriting human achievement. That meant something different in the day of the Hoover Dam than it does today, and today it's all about small businesses and mental health.
And specific to your question, the role that companies play, an employer is a steward of their employee population. They play a role in securing the mental health of their employees, just as they do the physical health, and providing the benefits necessary to do so. Our investment in philanthropy around mental health is a partnership with Active Minds, which we're ramping up... Not ramping up, we're increasing our spend and increasing our investment.
What that Active Minds partnership does is they have an exhibit that we sponsor that's called Send Silence Packing. And when you think about the stigma of mental health and you think about how silence, and particularly our generation, we were not very willing to talk about mental health, and I'm pointing to me and to Chris, because it was not really talked about. And the younger generation today, the Generation Z, the youngest generation in the workforce, does want to talk about it, but our Send Silence Packing exhibit that we are sponsoring travels around to colleges and universities with a hundred empty backpacks, each of those backpacks tells a story of a young person who was impacted by mental health and took their life.
And the idea of Sending Silence Packing means we don't want there to be silence. We want to bring these questions and concerns and the reality of mental health into the open so that we can shine a light on it, and when people talk about it they're able to address it and they're able to take tangible steps, so that's our intention with that partnership.
Lance Glinn:
So Chris, I do want to shift the focus now to The Hartford's recent fourth quarter earnings. Excuse me. The company delivered strong results across areas including commercial lines, personal lines, group benefits with core earnings ROE of 16.7% for the year. So, as you reflect on 2024, what were just the key drivers behind the success and how do you then plan to now sustain the momentum over these first couple months of 2025, and obviously the next 10 to go?
Christopher Swift:
Well, yeah, I think you're right. Fourth quarter, and the full year, the full year was equally impressive, numbers from a performance side, whether you want to look at it on a ROE basis, or the top line growth, earnings per share was up 16%, core earnings on a dollar basis was up 11%. All our businesses virtually grew in the double-digit range. Benefits may be a little smaller.
We purchased 1.5 billion shares, paid out about 550 million in dividends. So, yeah, I think our shareholders are generally pleased, and like anything in business, it's not one thing, it's a cumulation of things you've done over a longer period of time, but I think we've had a building and an investing mindset, primarily in technology, primarily in underwriting tools, primarily in distribution, we've done some acquisitions over the years. But I think we've modernized our platform to really take advantage of differentiating ourselves in the marketplace, and I'll give you just a couple examples.
Our small business business unit is the leader undisputed, and it's really because we've invested consistently in that business over the last 10 years. First in modernizing some core platforms, then on digital, then on data science, then on claims, and now we have plans particularly in the Gen AI area to continue to invest and differentiate ourselves there. And our agents, our brokers that represent us on a daily basis, just absolutely love what we're doing, and we're just capturing more market share.
Likewise, in our middle market, in our global specialty businesses, which are aligned more towards bigger organizations, bigger businesses, we've worked hard on tools there from an underwriting side, to give our underwriters more modern tools to make decisions more timely, more accurately, to interface with our agents and brokers, because speed counts. If you could be the first to the finish line, you generally could win.
So, those are just a couple examples of what we have tried to do. And then all the intangible stuff. We're talking about the brand, we're talking about our image, we're talking about the trust that we still really benefit from these days. And I think the greatest compliment that anyone can give us, and I hear it many times from our agents and brokers, is, "We just like doing business with you. You're easy, you're fair, you're honest, you're trustworthy, and we want to do more business with you." So, that's a culmination of 10, 15 years of hard work to put ourselves in this way.
But the team and our entire organization of 20,000 employees loves winning, wants to continue doing what we're doing and building new products for the futures, risks are emerging all the time, particularly in say the energy area. Energy is going through a lot of change, so we want to be front and center on providing those risk products for the future. Or we're rolling out a new cyber product, cyber securities first and foremost on a lot of small businesses and individuals. So, we are slowly, thoughtfully dipping our toes into some of these newer areas where we need to evolve our product set and our risk-taking skills as the world changes and as customers change.
Lance Glinn:
So during your remarks, you also highlighted The Hartford's commitment to advancing its growth and innovation strategy and focusing on accelerating your competitive advantage through technology, data science, and an experienced workforce. You mentioned in your last answer AI. How does AI fit into the plans, what Hartford does, and what it could potentially do for the company moving forward?
Christopher Swift:
I think ultimately what we see the advancement of just broad-based intelligence, right? Because you have to say generative AI, or all its forms of AI, is just another form of intelligence. It's happened to be machine-based, it happens to be pretty effective, and we want to think in terms of two ways. How do we augment our human talent with maybe different types of tools than we've used in the past? And that could be from, I'll call it personal productivity tools, to really embedding cutting-edge generative AI in our business processes, to really help a customer, an agent, a claimant in various ways to get a clear, transparent, fast answer to any questions that may or may not come.
So, think in terms of how do we embed brand new technology into our core processes over a period of time? And again, the foundation that we laid to do this particularly is we're taking all our data and applications to the cloud. We've been in a four, three and a half year journey to the cloud. We probably had another two, two and a half years to go, but again, we think that will give us ultimate competitive advantages when we have an ecosystem that is based in the cloud where there's more innovation, there's more security, and more opportunities to really differentiate ourselves.
So those are some of the things that we're thinking of. And stay tuned, we'll tell you when we roll things out.
Lance Glinn:
We'll be on the lookout, I know that for sure. So Claire, while AI obviously presents significant opportunities, it also brings concerns around its responsible and ethical use. So, how is The Hartford balancing and getting it's message out surrounding customer excitement, with also these challenges and the need to ensure that when you're using AI, you're using it safe and transparently?
Claire Burns:
That's a wonderful question. And as you can imagine, because we are an insurance company, we think deeply about risks, so we are always looking at the opportunity and the risk as the two sides of the coin. So, we're looking at responsible AI use for ourselves and the protocols and controls we put around it, but we're also a business advisor. And if you think about the role we play with our customers, helping them navigate their own landscapes, we are being called upon increasingly to help them navigate responsible AI. So, we're staying on the leading edge of the thinking around responsible AI. We're participating in forums where we are able to with broader groups to understand where that is headed and make sure that we're always ready, ready for ourselves, ready for our customers, and balancing the opportunity with the risk.
Christopher Swift:
There's two elements there too that I think are critically important you should know. One, we take governance in this area very seriously. So, as you imagine, there's a lot of people involved from a governance side, whether it be lawyers, compliance folks, business-orientated folks, cyber professionals, there's a host of other types, financial types. So, we have good governance. And there's certain things, at least right now in the near term to maybe medium term, that we're just not going to let machines do. We're not going to let machines pay claims.
We can have machines augment human talent. That's why I use that word very intentionally, but the claim-paying function will always be human-based from a final, final decision perspective. Likewise, in underwriting, we'd like to augment our underwriters' talents and skills, particularly with data, but he or she, meaning the underwriter in the field, will ultimately be making the final decisions, particularly in our larger risk. When you get into more homogeneous risks, such as homeowners or personal line to auto, there's a lot of data science models that help the underwriter, but the underwriter is guiding the entire underwriting process, and likewise in the benefits business. So, those are just a couple of guardrails that we have in place today.
Lance Glinn:
So, I'd like to shift the focus real quick onto the recent wildfires in LA, as well as the hurricanes dealt with in North Carolina and the Southeast region in late 2024. We're all obviously aware of what's going on and the devastation that those communities have faced over the last couple months. When you're dealing with disasters of this scale, Chris, what are just the key challenges that insurance companies face when it comes to damage assessment and response, and making sure that you're there for your customers?
Christopher Swift:
Yeah, I would even start maybe even prior to that. Prior to that, we're getting pretty good with commercial tools and some of our own data that will allow us to track storms, and we'll have a projected path, particularly on our hurricane. We're able then to call and reach out to our customers and agents and pre-position next steps after the storm clears. So, first and foremost, on any event, whether it be Milton, Helene, all the fires, I find it just personally it's just hard to watch the devastation and the human toll, loss of life, property.
As I always say, we're in the business of paying claims. People give us money, we invest that money safely and prudently to return it to a customer when he or she has an event that's a covered event in a policy. And I think we do that with empathy, and we try to do it as fast as possible, as accurate as possible, and ultimately restore customers' lives.
But second then most important thing is making sure it's safe for our professionals to be on the ground. And that's particularly in the LA fires, just given the duration of them and how expansive they were, it really hasn't been safe until last week to get boots on the ground, as we say. And for our customers that have experienced losses, we've already paid out close to $50 million. Probably 60% of those claims are total losses that we've paid out in essence the replacement value of the home.
And actually in some ways, a total loss is an easier loss to adjudicate, just because there's not that many questions. Everything's gone, contents, it could be a little bit of a question mark on valuation, but we've instructed our teams to be fair and accurate, but speed counts. Let's just get people money and let's not quibble, let's do what's right and take care of them. So, that's the general mentality on any major peril, right?
Because you could think about the major perils, whether it be tornadoes, flooding, earthquake, wildfire, winter freezes are happening with a little bit more frequency. So, yeah, we had a team of catastrophe-based professionals who have a number of vehicles then that will move out, and think of the vehicles that move out are like, I call them like big RV buses and vans, where it's like a mobile office.
Lance Glinn:
Yeah, I was going to say a mobile workstation of sort. Yeah.
Christopher Swift:
People could come in in essence, do the paperwork when it's safe. We could get them even a check on the spot if it's needed at that time. So, yeah, with practice comes great expertise and great skill, and we have great expertise and skill in getting people's lives put back together.
Lance Glinn:
So Chris, as of February 1st, Mo Tooker stepped into the role of company president. What unique strengths and vision will he bring to the role, and how is his appointment positioning The Hartford for continued success?
Christopher Swift:
Yeah, no, that's a great question. I have the utmost confidence in Mo, and I would describe him as a underwriter by trade, which is important given we're in the underwriting business, but he's got a customer centricity to him to sort of thinking, how do you make customers experience better? I think he knows our agents and brokers very well, extremely well, and that's important, from building those relationships and trust and confidence.
And we've challenged our entire executive team to get more in tune with technology, from an ultimate strategy side, and what technologies can do to affect business models, to improve business models. So, I think he's got a broad range of skills, including great people skills, communication skills, that'll serve The Hartford for many, many years to come.
Lance Glinn:
So Claire, as we begin to wrap up, earlier we discussed the process of uncovering and rediscovering this rebrand of sorts for The Hartford. So, we talked a little bit about it at the beginning, while a logo might just be a symbol to some, there's so much more that goes into it. And I believe personally that the details a company chooses for their logo, colors, font, even the nose that you guys mentioned, they all send a message. They all send a message. So you sort of touched on it a little bit in one of your earlier answers, but what message is The Hartford conveying to the marketplace, to its consumers, excuse me, through this rebrand.
Claire Burns:
What we want to convey with the brand is modernity, confidence, future-facing, readiness to help our customers meet this moment, and that we're really in go mode. Chris talked about all the reshaping we've done in the business, all the capabilities we've been building, and our brand logo is meant to show that. Show that really modern, fresh perspective, but it's also meant to draw from that heritage that I talked about, 200 years of delivering promises. 200 years of strength and stability in our communities. 200 years of serving employees, customers, and all our other stakeholders, and we're very proud of that.
Christopher Swift:
I would just say three things, right? It's ultimately about leadership. It's ultimately about the customer, and serving the customer, and really being in tune with the customer, and really having trust. If you don't have trust in our business, you have nothing. So, if there is three things, those are the three things I think of.
Lance Glinn:
Well, Chris, Claire, congratulations on a successful Q4, successful full year 2024, and congratulations on the new rebrand as well. Thanks so much for joining us Inside the ICE House.
Christopher Swift:
Thanks for having us.
Claire Burns:
Thank you.
Speaker 1:
That's our conversation for this week. Remember to rate, review, and subscribe wherever you listen and follow us on X at ICE House Podcast. From the New York Stock Exchange, we'll talk to you again next week Inside the ICE House.
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