Well it had to happen eventually. Our fictional property fund, which we know some of our readers are actually following with their hard-earned cash (no pressure then!) has finally underperformed the FTSE 100 over a three month period.

In the first three months of this year the FTSE 100 fell by just 1.1%, which nearly everyone would have said impossible in early February when the index had slumped by 10% in less than six weeks, thanks largely to a recovery in commodity shares.

In comparison, our fund of 10 property related shares fell by 6.3% in Q1, with a real return of -5.5% after dividend payments. But after a 40% return for the fund in 2015 and so much global economic uncertainty at the start of this year, it definitely could have been worse.

Stars continue to shine
Shares in Rightmove, the darling of our fund in 2015 when it returned more than 85%, continued to rise in Q1, up 2.1%. The share price is up a staggering 1,200% since floating 10 years ago, proof if needed that investing in 'star' companies that are undisputed market leaders can be very rewarding.

As the house-hunting season begins in earnest, Rightmove is still the first website that most of us turn to. Such is its dominance that despite sales growth of 22% per year since listing back in 2006, it has actually managed to expand its profit margin, something most companies can only dream about doing. With a market share of almost 80%, estate agents have no choice but to use it and according to the National Association of Estate Agents, the number of estate agents in operation is rising, which means higher sales and profits for Rightmove, which will definately stay in this fund for the foreseeable future.