John Phelps’s portfolio

OUR share tips passed another milestone last week, when the latest 2016 portfolio notched up a notional profit of more than £1,000 for the first time.

It continued a remarkable run since the Brexit vote, which has seen its total valuation increase by 13.7 per cent in the last eight weeks.

But it was by no means alone in scoring some stellar gains, with the total value of all four investment portfolios showing a £3,800 rise to a record £33,912 over the same period when we carried out our review of progress on Wednesday morning.

The standout performance came from the 2015 portfolio, with a 21.1 per cent rise, while the 2014 and 2013 selections were up by 8.9 per cent and 8.2 per cent respectively.

The showing was the result of an early decision to switch our investment focus towards companies with a major overseas presence that stood to gain from the weaker pound.

Post-referendum additions to our tips list have included Smiths, Diageo, 3i Infrastructure, Shire, Craneware and Imperial Brands, which have all recorded gains stretching well into double digits.

On the other side of the coin we have also been active in selling notional holdings in companies that have fallen to their stop-loss targets, with Wood Group, Sepura, Treatt, NCC, Essentra, Ricardo and Young & Co among those to be shown the exit door.

We accept that some of our tips are now looking fully valued after the recent good runs and believe the stop-loss system could increasingly come into play in the next month or two, as we sell any of our share recommendations that have fallen 10 per cent from previous peaks.

Even so, most of our shares managed further small gains last week with the 2016, 2015 and 2014 portfolios all showing rises of about one per cent on Wednesday.

The 2013 selections lagged a little way behind after slippages in Lloyds Banking and 3i Infrastructure but finished the week up 0.5 per cent.