Don't know how I missed this........I think I suggested OP to start this thread.
Primerica
When I was in college back in the '70's, I was a summer intern for the American Can Co in Baltimore.....yep...they make tin cans. They were maybe 2nd or 3rd largest can mfr in the US at the time, but I guess they figured this business was too funky so they transformed themselves into a financial services company (a hellova switch) by buying out AL Williams and renamed themselves Primerica.
Somehow I came to the attention of thier local reps in the 80's, shortly after I figured out what a mutual fund was. I went to a few recruiting sessions, and I was somewhat intrigued, but I had some problems with thier business model. They kept recruiting me with all the zeal of an Amway distributor until I finally told them to bug off.
Thier business model was "buy term and invest the difference". They sold 8.5% loaded mutual funds and they encouraged doing it door to door. At the time, most mutual funds were charging 3-5% load (before the no-load revolution). The door-to- door bit reminded me of the insurance salesman that would come to my grandparents house every month or so to "collect" a few dollars at a time. One good thing about it was the minimum investment was only $25, so most anyone could afford that (the good part). The fund performance was "ok" as I recall. They never really revealed the strategy of convincing people to sell thier whole life policies, buy term and invest the savings in thier high load funds, but it was just below the surface. I also don't recall them having the term life policies for sale, but I bet they at least do referrals. They finally left me alone when I told them I did not think I could sell thier funds to my friends, neighbors and relatives and still sleep at night due to the high load.
To me they were such a quasi-legitimate outfit that I was shocked when they were acquired by Travelors Group (right?) I can only imagine they are using a different business model, but I always chuckle to myself whenever I see the name.