Investors will focus on the direction of travel by asset manager Abrdn’s chief executive Jason Windsor who has hinted at more disposals following the sale of the Focus Solutions software business.

The company issues an update on Tuesday and there will also be a keen eye on how Mr Windsor is tackling the flow of funds following a rocky period under previous CEO Stephen Bird.

Mr Windsor, who stepped into the role full-time in September, has shaken up the FTSE 250 company’s leadership and is concentrating on three main businesses: investments, adviser, and its interactive investor (ii) division.

The latter, a “do-it-yourself” investment business, saw customer numbers rise by 6% to 430,000 in the year to September, with funds under management up by 13% to £74.5bn.

Wetherspoons‘ sales topped £2 billion for the first time last year, up from £1.9bn in 2023 but it continues to review its pubs estate and is looking to sell more pubs in 2025, according to its portfolio managers, who list multiple locations up for sale. The company updates on trading conditions on Wednesday.

The consensus forecast is for Burberry, updating on Friday, to make a £27 million operating loss for the year. That compares to estimates of £30m that prevailed ahead of the interim results.

Any comment from new chief executive Joshua Schulman could be the key to this statement, but AJ Bell analysts say he may feel it is prudent to say as little as possible, even though the important Christmas season is now behind him.

DIARY

Monday 20 January

• World Economic Forum, Davos, Switzerland (all week)
• Rightmove UK house price index
• President Trump inauguration, Washington DC

Tuesday 21 January

• Q4 trading up date from Abrdn
• First-half results from Kier
• Trading statements from Cranswick, Premier Foods, Serica Energy and Yu
• UK unemployment and wage growth

Wednesday 22 January

• Trading updates from EasyJet and JD Wetherspoon
• UK government borrowing figures

Thursday 23 January

• Trading statements from Associated British Foods, Harbour Energy and Mitie
• US weekly initial unemployment claims

Friday 24 January

• Trading updates from Burberry and Paragon Banking
• GfK UK consumer confidence survey
• Interest rate decision from the Bank of Japan
• Flash purchasing managers’ indices from Japan, Asia, Europe, the UK and USA
• US existing homes sales