Edmond de Rothschild celebrates a decade of Big Data Strategy
17 OCT, 2025
By Joanna Piwko from RankiaPro Europe
Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management marked the 10th anniversary of its Big Data investment strategy with an international press conference hosten by two Portfolio Managers: Jacques-Aurélien Marcireau and Xiadong Bao, reflecting on a decade of innovation and transformation in technology-driven investing.
10 years of transformation
Since the fund’s launch in 2015, the technological landscape has dramatically evolved. What began amid a global oil crisis, near-zero inflation, and the ECB’s first quantitative easing, has grown into an era dominated by artificial intelligence and massive data infrastructure.
In 2015, the world’s leading tech firms were household names such as Apple, Microsoft, Oracle, and IBM. A decade later, the market is still ruled by Microsoft and Apple, but is also joined by Nvidia with valuation surpassing $4 trillion. This change, the team noted, illustrates how innovation cycles reshape market hierarchies and investor priorities.
Consistent growth
Despite market volatility and technological disruptions, Edmond de Rothschild’s Big Data Fund has maintained consistent performance. With over €3.2 billion in assets under management, the fund achieved an annualized return of 13.43% since inception, outperforming its benchmark over the same period. Notably, one in five companies in the portfolio has been held for the entire decade, underscoring a commitment to long-term value.
From Data to AI
The second half of the press conference focused on the intersection of artificial intelligence, data, and capital markets. The speakers highlighted that AI capital expenditures have become so large that the fate of AI and equity markets are now intertwined. Whether AI expectations are exceeded or reset, major capital shifts across global markets are inevitable.
While attention is heavily focused on compute power, the team sees data ownership and management as the next frontier, offering both diversification and opportunity in an overheated sector. Compute is priced at a premium, but data plays remain cheap, the team remarked.
The conference also explored recent technological trends, notably the convergence between open-source and proprietary AI models such as Deepseek, Mistral, and Llama, which are closing the performance gap with private leaders like OpenAI and Anthropic.
Deep Seek is still kind of a variable because it’s open source and they can help everyone. The only limitation for Chinese players is really the bottleneck of very powerful GPUs, regulations, and economic considerations.
Xiadong Bao, Fund Manager - International Equities
Two scenarios for the future
The team outlined two extreme scenarios for the coming years:
- “Tech Republic” (positive scenario): AI continues to accelerate, ushering in post-capitalist abundance and economic efficiency.
- “Market Correction & U.S. Demise” (negative scenario): AI investments slow dramatically, creating overcapacity and financial drag, particularly in the U.S., while Asian markets maintain pragmatic momentum.
The likely outcome, they suggested, will be polarized rather than median, as market forces push technological adoption to its limits.
The Oracle – OpenAI Case
The conference concluded with an analysis of the recent Oracle – OpenAI deal, in which Oracle reportedly secured a $300 billion infrastructure backlog from OpenAI. Edmond de Rothschild analysts questioned the credibility and sustainability of such commitments, citing potential issues of execution risk, profitability, and funding feasibility.
According to their analysis, even at high gross margins, the backlog’s real worth might be closer to $60 billion, highlighting a broader need for realism amid market exuberance.
Change Is the only certainty
Summing up a decade of experience, the Edmond de Rothschild team reiterated their core philosophy: innovation investing requires patience, adaptability, and skepticism in the face of hype.
As the global economy enters an era where AI, data, and capital markets are inseparable, the firm remains committed to identifying long-term value creation while guarding against speculative excess.
We have reached a point of no return. Our responsibility is to stay disciplined, informed, and diversified –because in technology investing, change is the only certainty.
Jacques-Aurélien Marcireau, <em>Co-Head of Equities</em> and Lead Fund Manager – Big Data
