AdvisorOne – On the heels of a weak quarterly earnings report for The Hartford, hedge fund manager John Paulson has stepped forward as a shareholder activist in a bid to force the insurance company into a breakup.
Paulson & Co. retains an 8.4% stake in The Hartford, making it the largest shareholder. Paulson’s move comes after a bad year for hedge funds, and both his activism and breakup play with The Hartford are a new direction for him.