Many technology companies could be said to demonstrate more steady growth trajectories now, but it does seem as though the sector is in another boom. Indeed, Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google (known by the acronym ‘Fangs’) outperformed most equity markets in 2015.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq OMX 100 index rose 16.1 per cent in 2015, according to FE Analytics, while the S&P 500 gained just 6.6 per cent. Jeremy Gleeson, manager of the Axa Framlington Global Technology fund, says technology is “a good way for investors to get exposure to some of the growth opportunities out there at a time when many other sectors are delivering very little or no growth at all”.

“Through the technology sector, you get the opportunity to benefit from the drivers of growth for other sectors as well as the technology sector itself,” he adds, citing retail, telecoms and the auto industry.

It’s a niche area though, with only 15 funds listed in the Investment Association Technology and Telecoms sector, and just two investment trusts offering exposure.

Everyone is focused on how fast they can grow those markets outside the US Walter Price

Most of the large-cap tech names have reported earnings this year, with none seemingly affected by the global headwinds that have put the brakes on other sectors. In a sign of the times, Google, under its holding company Alphabet, has overtaken Apple as the world’s largest quoted company. But Walter Price, manager of the Allianz Technology Trust, acknowledges even the Fangs may have to come to terms with slightly lower rates of growth.

He adds: “In general, I think the trends that fuelled the growth in 2015 are going to continue to be at work in 2016.”

Mr Price calls it a year of investment for Amazon and Netflix, with the former investing in infrastructure and efficiency in a bid to improve its margins. Of Netflix, he notes: “They’ll lose money this year and I think everyone is focused on how fast they can grow those markets outside the US.”

He adds: “All those companies, if I take a one or two-year outlook, I think they’re going to continue to have these tailwinds behind them. And so I think those stocks will probably recover after we get through this period of adjustment of expectations.”

It seems US technology companies are leading the way, although a few Chinese firms such as Baidu and Tencent have attempted to challenge their dominance.

Mr Gleeson says: “Going back over a decade, when there was a retrenchment of investing in the technology sector, the retrenchment that took place was far more significant in Europe, so the Americans continued to invest in technology, continued to move forward.

“Increasingly what we’ve seen is when there is innovation here in the UK or in Europe, quite often the American companies turn up and acquire that technology before it gets a chance to really hit critical scale.” The most recent example is Microsoft’s acquisition of UK start-up Swiftkey, which created predictive smartphone keyboards using artificial intelligence.

Mr Price thinks Europe may play a bigger part in the development of driver-assisted technology though, calling it a “durable trend that’s going to last for the next three or four years”.

Ellie Duncan is deputy features editor at Investment Adviser