Depressed valuations may help fuel acquisitions in specialty finance and asset management and brokerage, as buyers can pick up strong franchises at discount prices. But as buyers continue to struggle with their own business and past deals, M&A will probably remain flat for some time.

M&A in insurance was bleak this quarter. Equity market jitters combined with accounting and reserve issues will likely keep M&A sluggish for the next couple of quarters.

Large deals just aren't getting done. We continue to see smaller deals, but companies are still hesitant to take any risk. This trend is likely to continue until the clouds of Enron, WorldCom and Arthur Andersen clear.