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The most important thing for any company which operates in our sector is that our customers know we will be there when they need us. And, of course, being a long-term business, this might be many, many years into the future. Financial strength and a sound business model are, therefore, key.
We have consistently managed our balance sheet responsibly. We have run a capital surplus significantly beyond that which is required by our regulators. This remains the case even after the market turbulence of 2008. We continue to monitor our capital very closely and we subject it to rigorous stress testing.
The strength of our balance sheet matters to our investors and we believe it matters to consumers and intermediaries, too. It gives them confidence to do business with, or entrust their money to, Legal & General.
The most obvious measure of our capital strength is the financial-strength rating awarded to us by Standard & Poor's, the credit-rating agency. This measures our economic, as opposed to regulatory, capital. We run our balance sheet with a view to retaining a financial-strength rating that is at the AA level and at least as good as those of our major competitors. During 2008, we retained one of the strongest credit ratings in the European life insurance sector, at AA+, and during 2009 we aim to retain our comparative-ratings advantage.