A shift to technology stocks by China’s most seasoned fund managers has backfired, with the unwinding of AI plays taking a toll on the performances of their products. Technology stocks listed in mainland China suffered their biggest monthly declines in July, aligning with a global unravelling of artificial intelligence bets amid doubts about the investment returns on cloud-service infrastructure. Meanwhile, the consumer stocks they had abandoned rebounded as they piled into technology stocks at elevated prices. Zhang Kun, who manages what was once the mainland’s biggest equity mutual fund at E Fund Management, was rattled by the turmoil as well. His flagship fund fell 1.2 per cent in value in July after Zhang pivoted to AI in the second quarter.