Does The Hartford plan to stay in the life insurance business?
We are now telling our investors that we will be a U.S.-focused insurance company. We will sell to individuals, businesses, life insurance, group life and disability, a wealth management business and a restructured annuity business. Retirement plans are critical to small business and benefits insurance. Dominant businesses going forward will be protection for businesses and individual life insurance. In the individual annuity business we will move toward greater simplicity and transparency. IA: What are the biggest changes you have seen in the insurance industry, and specifically in the independent agency system, during your career? The independent agency system has gotten better. First, there are more mid-size regional professional agencies that are getting stronger and are the dominant force in the market. Technology, over time, has dramatically re-shaped the workflow inside of the agency in a material way; agents are a much better sales organization both in terms of sales management
