a method comprising : forming a living liquid polymer , wherein said living liquid polymer is anionically initiated and comprises a cation ; adding a functional initiator precursor of the formula fi - h , wherein h is hydrogen and fi is a functional group , said h terminates said living liquid polymer resulting in said liquid polymer having a number average molecular weight of about 20 , 000 to about 100 , 000 , and said fi and said cation form a functional initiator ; adding monomer , wherein said functional initiator initiates anionic polymerization of said monomer ; and terminating the polymerization reaction initiated in step . steps through may be conducted in a single reactor , allowing a liquid polymer to be dispersed in a functionalized polymer in a single polymerization step . thus , the liquid polymer does not have to be handled separately and processing efficiency is improved .