Five things your clients will call you about this week

A quick scan of what your clients may have read in the nationals over the weekend...

With-profits

It's that time of year when the big insurance companies announce how their with-profits funds fared in 2011 and declare annual bonuses. According to the Mail on Sunday, it will be a tense time for savers. Zurich could be the first to announce, perhaps by the end of the month, and the paper said the funds with high proportions of gilts are likely to have performed well due to the eurozone crisis.

Income without risk

How can investors get the most income whilst taking as little risk as possible? It was a question the Sunday Telegraph tried to answer, looking at scenarios from £10,000 to invest, right up to £100,000. Even for the lower end of the scale, diversification seemed to be the key message, and the financial advisers quoted reeled off a long list of funds which investors might want to consider.

US election (the impact on investors)

News from the US this year will be dominated by the Presidential election, and the Sunday Telegraph looked into how this could affect investors. It pointed out the S&P 500, a broadly based index of US shares, has fallen in only three presidential election years since 1952. Meanwhile, confidence in the US economy also seems to be on the up and, with the dollar getting stronger, investing in Wall Street funds appears to be turning into an attractive option.

Investing in India

India is continually cited as one of the hottest places to invest yet a peek at the performance of its stock market and funds invested over the past year there tells a pretty grim story. The Independent on Sunday took a look at what lies ahead, pointing out how the Indian government will now allow foreign private investors to make direct investments into Indian companies. However, experts appear to remain concerned about the risks and volatility involved, and funds such as the Fidelity India Focus fund still appear to be the best option.

Divorce and pensions

January is traditionally a busy time of year for divorce lawyers and, according to the Scotsman, pensions now appear to be playing a significant role. With rates of divorce increasing among those at or approaching retirement age, many are finding it is pensions, not properties, which are their greatest assets. However, many divorcees are failing to claim part of their partner's pensions, instead opting for the obvious property or cash settlements.