Evening star., 1939-01-10
Insurance Leaders
Confer on Wider
Loan Outlets
Housing and Mercantile
Building Regarded
As Promising Fields
BY the Associated Press.

| BY the Associated Press.
NEW YORK, Jan. 10.-Executives
of number of leading insurance
companies were reliably reported
today to have engaged in tentative
discussions looking to widespread
investment of institutional funds
in housing and mercantile building
construction.
Impulse for the conferences was
the growing desire to find satisfac-
tory investment for constantly in
creasing funds now being utilized
chiefly in the purchase of Govern
ment obligations at very low in
! tereSt rates.
Some argued that definite open
ing had been created by the dwind-
ling and gradual vanishing of
guaranteed mortgage investment
bodies.
Some who have participated
termed lover optimistic" a figure
of 2,5O0.OO0,O0O which had been
mentioned in some financial quar-
| tiers as the sum available. Potential
plans. If carried through. would
not entail a tenth of that figure,
they said, although admitting that
several times the larger figure
might eventually be available if
conditions warranted.
Law Amended.
Last year, at the behest of some
large life companies here, the New
York State law was amended, on
flve-year basis. to permit direct
investment of life insurance funds
in low rental housing of the multi
unit and single dwelling classes. To
date, the Metropolitan Life Insur-
ance Co. New York;, is the only
one to take advantage of the change
in the law to any great extent. Its
investments have been large.
Companies now tentatively con-
sidering activity in this field were
reported to include the following:
Equitable Life Assurance Society
of the United States New York; i,
New York Life Insurance Co. New
| York;. Prudential Insurance Co.
of America Newark. Aetna Life
Insurance Co. (Hartford). Travel
ers Insurance Co. (Hartford) and
Union Central Life Insurance Co.
(CincinnatD.
Under consideration was a plan
whereby those companies which de-
sired to participate in large prof.
ects and keep within statutory limi-
| tations as to individual amounts
could participate in owning or un-
derWriting bonds of construction and
operating holding companies in the
large-scale housing field.
Chain Stores Watched.
In New York State the intent of
the law amendment to foster low
rental housing has been interpreted
by State Insurance Supt Louis H.
Pink to mean those which would
rent at not more than around SIS a
room. This would put the develop
ments. if not strictly in the tene-
ment-clearance group, at least with
in reach of many in the white
collar" group.
A second phase of investment said
| to be under consideration is that
relating to chain store property.
Many large chain store organiza-
tions were said to have indicated a
desire to get out of the real estate
business" and turn over present
holdings to institutions, if possible,
continuing thereafter as tenants.
If this phase of operation were
made legally permissible and found
to be attractive from an investment
point of view it would also include
purchase of land and construction
of store-and-o office buildings on a
contractual lease basis.
It was reported that recommended
tions by some insurance companies
for changes in the New Jersey law
would include some to open up this
field.