Life Operations Assets Under Management ($ in billions) Ongoing Property  and Casualty Net  Written Premium ($ in billions) $2. 1 billion Record net income of new industry standard by providing investors with a long-term guarantee of their principal investment. As the competition caught up with our innovation, we again led the market in  2004 by designing The Hartford’s “Principal First Preferred.” This newer product offers a streamlined set of options plus strong guarantees at a lower cost to the consumer. To t a l a n n u i t y s a l e s i n 2 0 0 4 we re a l m o s t $ 16 b i l l i o n , w i t h a record $111 billion assets under management. Our strong dis- tribution systems, among the best in the business, enable this growth. We have a large, multi-channel sales force and our  own dedicated wholesale organization that is the envy of the industry, as analysts routinely point out. Our leadership in sales of variable life insurance is also long established. Consumer demand in this market changed when equity markets softened and customers shifted emphasis to pro- tecting income in addition to growing income. Industry-wide, sales of variable life insurance declined from 2001 to 2003. At the same time, sales of universal life insurance rose. In response to the changing marketplace, we introduced a variety of new life insurance products, including “Quantum,” which combined the best aspects of variable universal life and universal life.  To d a y, w i t h e q u i t y m a rk e t s o n c e a g a i n s t re n g t h e n i n g , i n t e r - est in variable life is rebounding. Our individual life insurance group has increased sales an average of 16 percent over the past two years, outpacing the overall market and reaching $233 mil- lion in 2004. Our dedicated individual life insurance sales force, the largest  in the industry focused on financial planners and ranked No. 1 in national broker-dealers and bank distribution, helps fuel  our growth. Our strength in small business property and casualty insur- ance is the industry’s gold standard. Written premium grew  by 21 percent in 2004 because we provide strength, reliability, expansive coverage, and exceptional service to our more than 650,000 small business customers. Our support to agents who service small business customers is cutting-edge, with technology and service provided through our Electronic Business Center. This web-based resource center 00 0 01 02 03 04 50 100 150 200 $250 00 01 02 03 04 0 2 4 6 8 $10 2