Hartford Financial CEO McGee refuses bonus after stock drop

Hartford Financial Services Group Inc.'s Liam McGee, the chief executive officer battling calls to split his company after a 39 percent stock drop last year, refused a 2011 bonus. McGee's total compensation for 2011 declined 25 percent to $7.94 million, from $10.6 million in 2010, Hartford, based in the Connecticut city of the same name, said today in a regulatory filing. McGee's bonus for 2010 was $1.76 million. Hartford posted the third-biggest decline on the 24-company KBW Insurance Index last year, beating only MGIC Investment Corp. and Genworth Financial Inc. MGIC cut CEO Curt Culver's bonus by more than 40 percent to $743,300 while Genworth's Michael Fraizer was awarded a bonus of $750,000, or one third of his target. “Mr. McGee requested that no year-end bonus be paid to him for 2011,” Hartford said in the filing. “The independent directors determined that Mr. McGee would have otherwise received an incentive award, but they honored Mr. McGee's request and awarded no cash bonus.” Hartford reported bonuses of more than $600,000 for at least five executives. Chief Financial Officer Christopher Swift was awarded a bonus of $725,000 as his total compensation rose 2.7 percent to $3.75 million. McGee is selling and shutting down portions of Hartford's business as the company's biggest investor, John Paulson, presses the firm to split its life insurance and property- casualty units. McGee's plan to shrink the company has helped push Hartford to a 29 percent gain since Dec. 31 in New York trading. --Bloomberg News--