As the year winds down and “out of office” emails ping between inboxes, a quiet December usually means that stocks drift upwards. Fund managers looking to top up their winners push more money into the market, rewarding the best performers even further.

But this year the so-called “Santa rally” has left Silicon Valley’s winners out in the cold. The Nasdaq, the index that includes tech firms, fell by 2pc last month. Tesla lost 9pc, briefly falling below the $1 trillion market value it reached for the first time earlier this year.

These falls have in particular hurt “growth” investors, who favour companies that are growing quickly but are often still loss-making. The tech-heavy Scottish Mortgage investment trust has suffered, falling by 5pc in the past month. 

Mick Gilligan of the wealth manager Killik warned that DIY investors should be wary of betting big on risky “mega trend” approaches unless they had at least a 10-year horizon in mind.

“Investors must be able to hold their nerve when markets get choppy,” he said. “But given how expensive technology stocks are, I would consider trimming what you have invested in tech-heavy funds.”

While valuations in the tech sector still hover near record highs, Telegraph Money asks where else DIY investors can find innovative companies that generate big returns.

The cost-cutters

Not all transformation is led by technology, according to James Dowey and Storm Uru, managers of the Liontrust Global Innovation fund. Mr Dowey said companies could disrupt their market through innovative business models and aggressive pricing. He pointed to Planet Fitness, the American gym franchise, which has more than 15 million members.

“It disrupted the market because it is so much cheaper: it charges $10 a month while everyone else charges more than $20,” he said. “Competitors cannot react because their fixed costs are too high.”

Mr Uru tipped the London-listed airline Wizz Air, which he said was primed to ca