Show Insurance Stocks The volatile stock market of the past two years had caused investors to alternate between hope and Many stock groups have fallen from favor during this span of time while others have become FOR last spring we featured in this column a discussion of the natural gas Until recently the issues in this group were not regarded as particularly attractive Investment but during the acute fear over the fuel crisis they have held up quite there are other stock groups which may be as worthy of serious One of these is the multiple-line insurance A CONSIDERABLE part of the attraction in this field lies in the likely reduction in accident losses that may well result from short gasoline supplies and snaring prices bringing with slower driving speeds and lessened use of The securities of multi-line companies are not noted for their but neither are in most merely and Herein lies the usefulness Df this sector of the For investors chiefly in search of the pure life insurance stocks paying very little by way of dividends may be INVESTORS aiming primarily for a reasonably generous yield might best consider moving into property-casualty Many will prefer the middle-of-the-road course available through multi-line Insurance companies' stocks and convertible These offer not only a fair yield but also a good opportunity for medium-as well as longer-term capital In order to serve their the multi-line insurance companies have formed or acquired operations providing a wide scope of insurance They can not only offer protection in the and accidental injuries sectors but also furnish property-casualty liability IN RECENT years many multi-line insurance firms have formed corporate holding company structures with subsidiaries to serve the several special divisions of the insurance giving them a fool in both the life insurance and property-casualty This setup is capable of providing steady long-term growth of life insurance while at the same time moderating the disadvantage of investment fund attrition borrowings on life insurance when borrowing costs are extremely as they are at EVEN THOUGH it may be true that the property-casualty field is always vulnerable to many types of unpredictable catastrophes and accompanying these firms are able to lift their investment incomes advantageously during periods of high interest The flexibility of the holding company structure has enabled all kinds of insurance multi-line concerns to enhance their growth through making use of their and Many multi-line insurance organizations now participate in activities such as title insurance consumer and business equipment and electronic data processing-via subsidiaries they have formed or Many of the major firms have also built and now manage mutual funds and-or real estate investment and the life are preparing to annuities as well as jl AT THIS 2 Research Departmental Babson's Reports of holdings of Ami Life America General and ra General Insured for further growth For we recommend common or the Converts Preferred shares of Travel |