We did not buy into any of these ideas, which we felt were the product of situational fears and enthusiasms, and decided instead to stick with our long-term strategic positioning: ■ in the financial protection and wealth management business, because it allows us to support and cover our clients – individuals and businesses – as they navigate in a world where both risks and the need for protection and sound advice are growing; ■ by offering our clients both property-casualty and life and savings solutions wherever and whenever possible, since it is the interplay of these products and services rather than any one taken in isolation that differentiates financial protection and wealth management solutions; ■ by investing first and foremost in our proprietary distribution channels – career agents, salaried sales professionals, brokers – and only afterwards to seek out third-party distribution agreements, rather than buying up networks whose business does not totally overlap with our own expertise.