INSURANCE

Massachusetts Mutual Weighs Merger: Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. said it may merge with Hartford, Conn.-based Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Co. in a deal that would create the nation’s fifth-largest mutual life insurance company, with assets of $78 billion. It said the two closely held companies are undertaking feasibility studies and have agreed to discuss the option. Massachusetts Mutual said a merger could help the companies compete better in the rapidly changing insurance industry.