Risk advoidance

LIFE has been tough for insurance brokers. One of the world's biggest, Alexander & Alexander, was struggling for survival when Aon, a Chicago-based fellow giant, rescued it in December. On March 12th the industry was turned upside down once more when second-ranking Marsh & McLennan agreed to buy one of its biggest competitors, Johnson & Higgins. The $1.8 billion deal will create a firm whose combined revenues last year were $5.3 billion. Whether it will make the core business worthwhile is a different question.