2009-11-10 16:38:05 -

With taxes rising, the future of healthcare in question and the markets still unsettled, many Americans may be interested in a mutual fund that invests in both stocks and bonds. The Hartford Balanced Income Fund (symbols – Class A:HBLAX, Class C:HBLCX), which is sub-advised by Wellington Management Company, LLP and recently celebrated its three-year anniversary, may provide the unique blend

of high quality equities and fixed income many of today’s shell-shocked investors are looking for.

“We are excited that The Hartford Balanced Income Fund has outperformed many of its peers since inception three years ago,” says Keith Sloane, senior vice president of The Hartford Mutual Funds. “This is one of many funds in our fund family that offers investors a diversified solution in their portfolio. Wellington Management, which created the first balanced mutual fund more than 80 years ago, has a long history of managing balanced investments.”


Unique features of The Hartford Balanced Income Fund include.

- Balanced investment approach. The Fund seeks to invest in a target mix of 55 percent fixed-income and 45 percent equity. A balanced portfolio offers upside potential but with more protection than being 100 percent in equities.


- Focus on yield. The Fund mixes equity securities for dividends and growth potential and bonds for additional yield and stability.


- Focus on quality. The Fund focuses on a diversified portfolio of fixed-income securities with an average credit rating of Baa1.


- Experienced investment team. The Fund uses a team approach with three portfolio managers dedicated to equity and two to fixed income.
The managers on the Balanced Income team average more than 22 years of experience. Portfolio managers are supported by the full resources of Wellington Management.



“The target mix of equities and bonds make this mutual fund unique, and the blend can help investors play both offense and defense at the same time,” says Sloane. “The Fund’s portfolio managers invest in both equities and bonds. They also have the flexibility to adjust the allocation by plus or minus five percent based on market conditions.”


The Hartford Balanced Income (Class A shares) places in the 17 th percentile (#106 out of 649 funds) for one-year performance and in the 45 th percentile (#252 out 561 funds) for three-year performance in Morningstar’s Conservative Allocation category (percentile rankings are as of 09/30/09 and are based on total return) 1 .

Quality bonds have outperformed lower-quality bonds so far this decade, with the performance gap widening significantly during the early stages of the credit crisis (data source: Ned David Research, 7/09). The fixed-income portion of The Hartford Balanced Income Fund invests primarily in quality bonds, which as of 6/30/09 had an average credit rating of Baa1.

Dividend-paying stocks outperformed non-dividend-paying stocks 23 out of the past 30 calendar years, more than 76 percent of the time (data source: Ned David Research, 7/09). The Hartford Balanced Income Fund invests 100 percent of its equity portion in stocks that pay, or intend to pay, dividends.

Investors undoubtedly still feel the pain of the 2008 market downturn and the new lows reached in March 2009, and are switching to more conservative investments. During the second quarter, about two-thirds of the money flowing into mutual funds went to bond funds, according to Strategic Insight (data source: Strategic Insight, 7/09).

“A recent survey by The Hartford shows that Americans are investing more conservatively now than a year ago,” says Sloane. “Balanced funds offer investors exposure to both stocks and bonds, which can be an effective strategy. Balanced Income is often considered by older clients who want to be in the stock market to potentially keep pace with inflation, but don’t have the risk tolerance for a fund that is 100 percent invested in equities.”


About The Hartford Mutual Funds

The Hartford Mutual Funds, established in 1996, offers a wide array of both broad-mandate and style-focused equity and fixed-income investment options. The Hartford Mutual Funds draw on the investment strength, experience and expertise of Wellington Management and Hartford Investment Management Company. These two organizations bring their decades of market experience, in-house investment capabilities, rigorous research and time-tested investment process to bear in managing the funds to help The Hartford Mutual Fund investors meet their long-term financial goals. Total retail mutual fund assets under management were $40.1 billion as of September 30, 2009. For more information on The Hartford Mutual Funds, including current holdings, visit www.hartfordmutualfunds.com : .


About The Hartford

Celebrating nearly 200 years, The Hartford (NYSE: HIG) is an insurance-based financial services company that serves households, businesses and employees by helping to protect their assets and income from risks, and by managing wealth and retirement needs. A Fortune 500 company, The Hartford is recognized widely for its service expertise and as one of the world’s most ethical companies. More information on the company and its financial performance is available at www.thehartford.com : .

HIG-L

Some of the statements in this release may be considered forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. We caution investors that these forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, and actual results may differ materially. Investors should consider the important risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ. These important risks and uncertainties include those discussed in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, our 2008 Annual Report on Form 10-K and the other filings we make with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We assume no obligation to update this release, which speaks as of the date issued.

Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

1 Morningstar rankings are based on average performance of all mutual funds in their peer group and do not take into account sales charges.

© 2008 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The information contained herein: (1) is proprietary to Morningstar and/or its content providers; (2) may not be copied or distributed; and (3) is not warrantied to be accurate, complete, or timely. Neither Morningstar nor its content providers are responsible for any damages or losses arising from any use of this information. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.



You should carefully consider investment objectives, risks, and charges and expenses of The Hartford Mutual Funds before investing. This and other information can be found in the Fund's prospectus, which can be obtained from your investment representative or by calling 888-843-7824. Please read it carefully before you invest or send money.


PERFORMANCE RATINGS REPRESENT PAST PERFORMANCE AND DO NOT GUARANTEE FUTURE RESULTS. The investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate so that an investor's shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost. Over the period rated, the Fund has experienced negative performance. For more current performance information to the most recent month ended, please see www.hartfordinvestor.com : .

The Fund may invest in foreign securities, which can be riskier than investments in U.S. securities (risks may include currency risk, illiquidity risks, and risks from substantially lower trading volume on foreign markets).

The Fund is subject to credit risk (the risk that the issuing company may not be able to pay interest and principal when due), interest-rate risk (the risk that your investment may go down in value when interest rates rise), and risk of loss (the risk that you could lose money on your investment).

A portion of this Fund’s assets may be below investment grade securities ("high-yield securities" or "junk bonds"), which are rated lower because there is a greater possibility that the issuer may be unable to make its interest and principal payments.

The Fund may invest in securities of companies that conduct their principal business activities (or that trade principally on exchanges) in emerging markets (including Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe, and Africa), which can be riskier than investing in securities of more developed countries (risks include illiquidity and increased price volatility).

The sub-adviser's investment strategy will influence performance significantly. The Fund could underperform its peers or lose money if the strategy does not perform as expected.

Wellington Management Company, LLP is an independent and unaffiliated sub-adviser to The Hartford.

The Hartford Mutual Funds are underwritten and distributed by Hartford Investment Financial Services, LLC.

"The Hartford" is The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. and its subsidiaries.



The HartfordJulia Green, 860-843-6022 julia.green@hartfordlife.com : mailto:julia.green@hartfordlife.com orRobert
DeMallie, 860-843-5215 robert.demallie@hartfordlife.com : mailto:robert.demallie@hartfordlife.com