Mark Henry, Alloy Wealth’s founder and CEO, is a financial advisor who leads a team of professionals dedicated to helping clients prepare for their retirement. Emphasizing early planning, disciplined budgeting, consistent saving, and strategic investing, the firm builds personalized, written retirement plans designed to provide clients with lasting income and a clear sense of financial balance.
Mr. Henry was drawn to retirement planning after watching his father lose more than half of his retirement savings on October 19, 1987—”Black Monday,” one of the largest single-day stock market crashes in history. That experience shaped his belief that clients need more than a target savings number; they need a comprehensive plan that accounts for taxation, inflation, market volatility, and the rising cost of healthcare, so they can spend confidently without fear of running out of money. In 2011, he founded Alloy Wealth on that principle, and as a fiduciary, the firm is required to act in clients’ best interests.
A central theme in Mark Henry’s approach at Alloy Wealth is the importance of saving and investing early and consistently, as the longer investments have to mature, the greater the effect of compound interest. To spread that message, Mr. Henry has made financial education a core part of his work. He has spoken at national conferences, appeared on television and radio programs and podcasts, launched the Living Large Retirement YouTube channel and blog. Through these outlets, he covers topics such as saving, investing, insurance products, Social Security, and various investment vehicles.
The AI Stock Boom, Explained
A recent post on the Living Large Retirement blog recapped Mr. Henry’s appearance on Money Matters with WCNC’s Jane Monreal, where he discussed the ongoing AI stock boom. Since the launch of ChatGPT, artificial intelligence has moved to the center of the technology conversation, and AI-related stocks initially surged in a rush of investor enthusiasm not unlike the demand seen around SpaceX shares.
Lately, though, that excitement has cooled off. Investors have gotten pickier. They’re pulling money out of some AI stocks, putting it into other sectors, and pushing down prices for AI companies (especially software ones) that haven’t proven they can turn a profit from it yet.Â
The underlying worry, as Mr. Henry explained, is that AI is growing faster than the returns to justify it: Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, and Amazon have together committed roughly $2.3 trillion to AI infrastructure—nearly four times the current global market valuation of the AI industry—leading some analysts to describe the situation as a bubble.Â
Don’t Give Up on AI Stocks Completely
Despite that concern, Mr. Henry does not believe investors should abandon AI stocks altogether. He argues that AI isn’t going away and will keep expanding as an industry, even though, like any sector, it will experience ups and downs that are impossible to predict with certainty. His caution is against concentration, not the technology itself: He points to investors such as Larry Ellison, who put outsized bets on individual positions and paid the price when sentiment shifted.
Instead, Mr. Henry recommends dollar-cost averaging. This means investing smaller, regular amounts into a stock over time rather than committing a large sum all at once. This approach involves buying more shares when prices are low and fewer when prices are high, which spreads exposure across price points and has historically proven a more effective way to build a position than trying to time the market.
The Value of a Fiduciary Advisor
Mr. Henry’s broader message is that decisions about AI stocks, dollar-cost averaging, or any other investment strategy are best made with the guidance of a retirement planner who is also a fiduciary. An advisor bound to act in a client’s best interest can help translate market trends like the AI boom into a portfolio built to hold up over the long run—one solid and dependable enough to be ready when it’s time to retire.
