(2 of 2)
One-Stop Planning. As insurance companies scramble to train their agents to sell mutual-fund shares, a lively competitive battle is shaping up. The going could be particularly rough for companies that set up funds from scratch, since many investors will presumably want to deal with established funds with well-documented performance histories. Insurance men are confident all the same. Many see their new sideline as a long step toward "one-stop financial planning" in which investors will welcome the opportunity of dealing with a single all-purpose agent rather than with rival insurance and mutual-fund sales men. And when it comes to finding customers, says Collins Graham, director of Boston's Boit, Dalton & Church insurance agency, life-insurance companies "have potential business staring them in the face through the millions of policyholders now on their books."
