The ability of insurance professionals to sustain futurebusiness profitability requires examining operating principles andpractices at the core of an enterprise able to capitalize on theopportunities of a changing world. The economic realities andregulatory proposals on the horizon are not mutually exclusive toan agent or broker's abilities to earn a profitable living.

The American Assn. of Managing General Agents (AAMGA) has builta committee system and established alliances to exploit the diversetalents in the wholesale insurance industry specifically, and themarketplace generally. Although the future is bright, it willrequire behaviors that have been the hallmark of trusted agents andbrokers in the past:

o Committing to service that adds value to every transaction

o Fostering relationships with every customer at everyopportunity

o Enhancing professional development and mentoring younginsurance professionals

o Solving problems innovatively and making use of automation andtechnology

o Giving back something of ourselves and our profession to ourcommunities.

These behaviors appear as a relatively easy recipe to follow,except that legislators, regulators and even our neighbors castinsurance agents and brokers in the same light as other financialservice providers currently under scrutiny. Throughout the lastyear of revelations and the economic impact of the greed andfailure of others, our industry has continued to provide the modelof integrity and professionalism.

AAMGA works with other professional trade associations toeducate federal and state regulators and their staffs on thebenefits agents and brokers provide. We have our work cut out forus. The events of the past year have made it clear that the olddays of laissez-faire and Darwinian capitalism are unacceptable.Markets work and they must be allowed to work; but they will needgovernment guidance to be resurrected from the devastatingconsequences of greed and unaccountability that put us in thesecircumstances.

However, we can ill afford to limit the very people who workhard to provide protection to the risks, homes and businesses thatcomprise our nation's infrastructure.

Regulatory mandates, oversight and compliance are thegovernment's prerogative. They also are our opportunity to ensurethat our regulators and elected officials do not constrain theentrepreneurial spirit we employ and work hard to protect, in orderto enjoy the fruits of our properly and honorably securedlabors.