In the period January 1 to February 29 my self-invested personal pension (Sipp) scheme’s portfolio (including cash) increased in value by 2.47 per cent. During that period no shares were bought or sold because generally I buy shares with the aim of longer term growth rather than quick “in-and-out” deals.

Best performers included small Aim-listed real estate/leisure project company Oak Holdings which rose from 38.5p to 43.5p per share; Avocet Mining (with gold mines in Malaysia and Indonesia) up from 176.5p to 200p and two companies that have benefited from improved market sentiment on their oil interests in the Falklands: Westmount Energy (up from 82.5p to 101p) and Falkland Islands Holdings (up from 337.5p to 430p).