Banks, Insurers Told to Investigate Joint Insurance-Selling Ventures

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NEW YORK -- Although their lobbyists are at war, bankers and insurers have a lot to offer one another in joint ventures to sell insurance, speakers at a conference said this week.

They warned, however, that bankers must proceed carefully in selling insurance and must make sure they have good advice, profitable opportunities, and three to five years of patience. Insurance underwriting, they said, is a loser now and offers bankers nothing but expensive trouble.

The speakers generally dismissed rules and laws prohibiting banks form selling insurance as barriers that can be overcome or quickly removed.

"You're going to be giving the banks another service to offer, and you're going to improve …