RJ and Makay

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Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. (HIG) announced yesterday that it intends to sell independent broker-dealer Woodbury Financial Services.  An active mergers & acquisitions market should provide Hartford with a host of willing buyers, industry experts said, but the move came as a surprise to Woodbury reps.  Along with putting Woodbury on the block, HIG also said it is exiting the annuity business and intends to sell portions of its life insurance operation.

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Genworth Financial executives have not yet decided on whether to split up the company, but in a conference call with analysts last Friday CEO Mike Frazier said that the company was going ahead with contingency plans in preparation for a possible breakup.  Genworth shares jumped 6% on the announcement, closing Friday at $8.32 Frazier, up $0.50, or 6.39 percent. Frazier acknowledged that a split-up could benefit shareholders.

Single parents with children at home are the largest group in the U.S. without life insurance, even though they need it most, suggests a new survey by Genworth Financial.

The survey, which included more than 23,000 U.S. adults and took 15 months to complete, found that 69% of single parents with children living at home don't have life insurance. Among single parents with children in or out of the house and married parents with children at home, 59% and 45%, respectively, said they had no life insurance.