Market cycles are inevitable. A policy’s cash value might grow significantly during a bull market, but a bear market or recession can erode those gains. Proper asset allocation and occasionally rebalancing your subaccounts can reduce the impact of volatility, but it cannot eliminate it. Making emotional decisions to drastically shift allocations during a market downturn might lock in losses or miss the next upswing.

If you keep a long-term perspective, focusing on a horizon of 10, 20, or more years, you may better weather short-term fluctuations and let the underlying investments recover. This approach, however, requires patience and a willingness to continue funding the policy even during market stress.