The OCIO Mindset: Stephanie Lang, CFA

When a semiconductor ETF can rip higher in a month and a mega-cap can spike 35% in a day, it’s hard to know whether you’re watching real value being created or pure market heat. We sit down with Stephanie Lang, CFA, former Chief Investment Officer at a multibillion-dollar wealth management firm and founder of ArmorPoint Advisors, to get a fundamentals-first read on what’s actually driving returns and where investors can get hurt.

We talk about how a CIO thinks in real time: balancing public and private markets, building a team, delegating manager research, and staying humble about what you don’t know. Stephanie shares the career moments that shaped her, including the lesson of taking good opportunities when they appear and the importance of advocating for yourself when you’re already doing the job. If you’re curious about OCIO services, investment committees, and how firms “institutionalize” their process, her perspective is practical and refreshingly direct.

Then we move into the market. We dig into AI stocks, semiconductors, valuation discipline, and why earnings growth and PEG ratios can matter more than hype. We also tackle the rise of retail trading, meme-stock momentum, one-day options, and the creeping feeling that investing is turning into betting. Stephanie lays out a simple framework: diversify on purpose, keep liquidity buckets, and if you want to speculate, separate it from the money you can’t afford to lose. We close with crypto skepticism grounded in cash-flow logic, plus the potential impact of mega IPOs like SpaceX and AI leaders on benchmarks and investor behavior.

If you found this helpful, subscribe, share it with a friend who’s feeling market whiplash, and leave us a review with your biggest question about AI investing and risk management.

Stephanie Lang website:

https://www.armorpointadvisors.com/

Charity mentioned on Podcast:

Mercy Care 

https://mercyatlanta.org/

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Disclaimer - These podcasts are not intended as investment advice. Individuals please consult your own investment, tax and legal advisors. They provide these insights for educational purposes only.

Transcript

Steve Davenport 0:02

Hello everyone and welcome to Skeptic's Guide to Investing. Today, Clem and I are fortunate to have a guest from CFA Society Atlanta where I used to live for 20 years. And Stephanie Lang is a CFA and she's been working at Homrich & Berg HB, and she had a career there, and she's now

Welcome And Guest Introduction

Steve Davenport 0:26

out on her own at Armor Point.

Stephanie Lang 0:29

Armor Point Advisors.

Steve Davenport 0:30

Armor Point Advisor. Um Stephanie has a great history in terms of doing individual stock analysis with Bank of America, and I think she represents what I'd call the future of the RAA business, and that I think we need a lot more women advisors, and I think we need a lot there's gonna be a huge transfer of wealth to women in the next 10, 20 years. So I think there's gonna be a lot of women who want to work with women advisors. Stephanie, I'd love to have you here today and tell us a little bit about who you are and how you got to where you are today.

Stephanie Lang 1:10

Sure. So grew up in Atlanta and kind of got the itch for investing from my father when he told me to invest my lifeguard earnings back in high school. That was in the late 90s, so you know it was like shooting fish in a barrel, so I could see a lot of growth, and that really caught my attention. So went to Georgia,

Early Investing Lessons And First Jobs

Stephanie Lang 1:34

, got my finance degree, came back to Atlanta and started working at Robinson H phrey. Um at that point, they were owned by Citigroup. Later they got bought by Sun Trust, and now they're they're part of Truist, but was covering tech stocks back in the 90s. So, you know, a lot of today, what's going on today, there's a lot of parallels there. So, you know, was right in the thick of it the last time around. Saw the boom and bust. Um, and but at that time realized, you know, self-side research covering 35 stocks in the tech sector that can go poof overnight. Um, you know, it wasn't necessarily for me. So I'd always had a liking to wealth management and decided that I was gonna explore that. Um, actually, at the time, there was a group within Robinson H phrey that I went and talked to about joining in in wealth management. And they said, sure, yeah, come along. And was able to, you know, they gave me a job offer, but they said, you need to start now. And told them, you know, at this point, I can't because my boss needs me, , and decided to pass up on that. Well, my boss quit two weeks later, and that was kind of one of my first lessons that if you have a good opportunity, take it. Um, and people will hopefully be happy for you and understand. So went on to Bank of America. Um, you know, while I made some great connections there that I still keep in touch with today, I realized that really wasn't for me. I was a portfolio manager in their private bank and was, you know, managing client portfolios, but it was a little too cookie-cutter for me. Uh it was putting, you know, at the time a lot of the clients were in the the B of A products, and you know, there weren't really any anything besides traditional stocks and bonds, and I knew there was other ways to invest. So started looking around to kind of go back to my research roots and looked at foundations, endowments, pension plans, family offices, and wealth management firms. I really wanted to be an allocator and kind of see the whole picture. And that's when I came across Homer Burke. And they called me up and I had never heard of them. They were, you know, at the time, I guess kind of big for their, you know, compared to their peers. They were a billion in assets. And , you know, I had some other

Finding The Right Wealth Management Fit

Stephanie Lang 4:19

opportunities with a family office, and I was talking to pension plans, but thank goodness I didn't do that given what's happened to pension plans. But , you know, I ultimately decided to go with HB, and it was really because of the growth opportunity and kind of the exciting way they were doing investments. They were already deep into alternatives. Um, this was back in about 2005, but they've been doing it for almost a decade at that point, and thought that was really exciting. So then , you know, I worked at HB, , started kind of on the ground floor, was an analyst. Um, there was no CIO at the time when I joined and kind of moved to the de facto CIO. Um, and then essentially I had a few analysts under me, and

Asking For The CIO Seat

Stephanie Lang 5:16

one went to business school, another one decided to move to Invesco and take a job offer. And I was put in the position from the leadership there to decide what's next in the investment department. And they told me to build it out exactly how I saw fit. And as I was making the org chart, , and here's the analyst we need, and here I am at the top. And I said, you know, why aren't I the CIO, the chief investment officer? Because I'm essentially doing that job. And so, you know, that's what I asked for. I asked for the CIO title. Um, they allowed me to build out the department as I saw fit. And, you know, that's how I became the CIO of HB. And that's always, you know, I always give advice to people that no one cares about your career more than you do. And if you have an opportunity, you know, take it and you know, advocate for yourself. So , you know, and and then I I can pause there or I can go on to where I am right now.

Clem Miller 6:23

Um, yeah, why don't we proceed to where you are right now and then you know where you where you're thinking about with the future, actually.

Stephanie Lang 6:31

Yeah. So , you know, was at HB for 20 years and the CIO role for since 2014. I left in 2026, so you know, 12 years, and we were a billion when I started. When I left, we were about 26 billion, so saw tremendous growth. Um, saw, you know, the firm change a lot in in terms of

Launching ArmorPoint And First Clients

Stephanie Lang 6:57

institutionalization, but you know, really enjoyed my time there, had a great career, met some wonderful people and clients. And , but you know, at the time when I decided to leave HB, I said, okay, you know, what do I do next? Because I I've been doing that and I liked a lot of what I did. However, I wanted to find a little more balance. And so I have a junior and senior in high school. Actually, one is about to graduate because you know, a year goes by in a blink of an eye, as we all know. Um, and so I started ArmorPoint Advisors. Um, and ArmorPoint is a OCIO and strategic consulting firm. And our target clients is wealth management firms, family offices, nonprofits, and you know, also have asset managers as a potential group I could help. And when I, you know, I had a little bit of time because once the decision was made to leave, I had, you know, got some soul searching and was still at HB for, you know, almost six months. And and then, you know, establish Armor Point, but then kind of was really just talking to people and you know, saying, here's what I think I could be helpful with, and you know, kind of testing the waters with my network. Um, and really, you know, as part of those conversations and you know, kind of the importance of a network is that, you know, generally people were very helpful. And, you know, that's how I organically got my first client. So, you know, been working at this point with wealth management firms, helping them with their their investments, but also more strategic initiatives like you know institutionalization of the firm. Um, also like some firms that, you know, you had a CEO that also was a CIO and helping them to really build out structure and process and running an investment committee. So all of that's been, you know, very interesting and right in my wheelhouse. And my goal with Armo Point was also to work with nice people that you know could leverage what I've learned over the last 30 years and that will ultimately take my advice because even if I have something to offer them, they don't, you know, won't take the advice, then it's kind of a moot point. So so far, so good. As I said, I'm you know, working with very nice people that I can help and adding value to. And , you know, so far, so good.

Clem Miller 9:46

Um, let me ask you back to your CIO days. Uh what in your mind makes a good CIO?

Stephanie Lang 9:55

Yeah, I mean, you know, with a with a CIO, you obviously you have to kind of take the whole big picture. And I would say, you know, as a firm grows and evolve, that that changes. You know, when we were a billion, I I pretty much did everything. You know, I covered all the asset classes, I was in the weeds with all the managers, asset allocation, alternatives. Um, but as you grow and you have, you know, other responsibilities, you also have to learn to delegate and build out a good team.

What Makes A Great CIO

Stephanie Lang 10:28

And , you know, I was fortunate enough that when I was at HB, I I hired people and they stayed. And, you know, people were with me a decade plus. And, you know, it's it's very rewarding to see the people under you grow and evolve and be able to add value. So I think not only do you have to understand the markets and be able to sh compare, you know, different asset classes and relative value and private and public, , but also being able to rely on your teammates to being able to be in the more in the weeds on certain asset classes and kind of take those first calls with managers so you have a wide funnel and are able to, you know, really kind of add value when you're you're closer to you know adding something to the portfolio than always, you know, you you can only have so many hours in the day. So if you can leverage your teammates to make smart choices and find kind of some of the best managers, that's always a good thing. So obviously knowing the market, having that intellectual curiosity, knowing when you're wrong, knowing what you don't know, and you know, moving on from mistakes and then, you know, helping your team grow and evolve and add value to the process and ultimately taking care of the client and putting them first every day.

Steve Davenport 12:01

I mean, one thing I've noticed is that a lot of women advisors I think are much good better at feeling the emotions and the understanding of why people are nervous. You know, today's markets, I don't really feel like I can understand what's happening day to day. Obama goes off and you and me and we see the market go up. I I think of destroying assets in the country and limiting supply of oil as a negative. I mean, how how do you sometimes look at the way things are today? And do you think these markets like do you have any advice for people in these or any educational ideas that you want people

AI Boom And Market Froth

Steve Davenport 12:43

to think about now in this market? Because it's it feels to me like things are a little bit off. Do you feel that or you Yeah?

Stephanie Lang 12:50

I mean, look, when you have you know the the semiconductor ETF go up 60% in one month, you kind of raise your eyebrows and say, hmm, you know, so that there are things in the market that you know seem a little frothy, but you know, then you have some right sizing follow that. And I I think while, you know, if you think back in the in the 90s when, you know, we're all old enough to remember when there weren't wasn't email, when there wasn't the internet. And so it's a complete game changer to be able to send an email to you know look something up on the internet. And so we're at another inflection point right now with AI that yes, things feel uncomfortable, but what's pretty incredible is that it is producing a tremendous amount of earnings. And, you know, just recently in terms of you know what we've saw in last quarter earnings, is it's absolutely incredible when you have earnings that you know approaching 30%, and then the full year is you know 15 plus percent. So it is, you know, the growth is tremendous. It's a lot of it is focused on AI and the build out, and you know, at some point, is it gonna be too much? Um, you know, yes, at some point there will be the next bubble. I think at this point we're still early on. Um, I think, you know, what happens with all these IPOs coming up, , you know, that may play into when valuations get ridiculous. But when you have companies that are growing 80 times in a year, you know, in terms of their revenue growth, they deserve to be rewarded in terms of their valuations. So as long as you see the fundamentals support the valuations growth. And as you know, if these companies can continue on this trajectory, and yes, things can get ahead of themselves and then they pull back in. And I think it'll be clear when you see just valuations that make absolutely no sense. But we have seen some ebb and flow where all of a sudden, you know, the the multiples go way past and then they come back in. If you look at like peg ratios, price earnings of growth, those have come, you know, ebbing and flowing. But you know, you could argue Nvidia is cheap from a PEG standpoint. So I think you know, you gotta look at all that and take it with a grain of salt and you know rebalance your portfolio and make sure you're you're properly allocated for your situation.

Steve Davenport 15:51

I just looked at what happened with that one day 35% move in Oracle and say, I don't think I've ever seen a company that size. I mean, I've seen microcaps go up 35% in a day, but you don't you don't usually see that happen in a in that larger space and say were there no analysts following this potential move? Were there no people who expect like usually there's one or two outlier analysts who say, Yeah, we think this could happen, and it could be , you know, every analyst missed it. And it's up 35%. And then you say, Well, the market's smarter than we are sometimes, so let's, you know, and then it just

Retail Trading And Speculation Pressures

Steve Davenport 16:33

bled away. And it and it and I I look at that and say, I don't know, I I was listening to on a call recently where a guy said, Look, 10 years ago, 10% of the market was retail. Today, 30 to 50 percent of the market is retail trades. I mean, do you feel like the market is is different now, or do you like we're trying to help these retail investors who listen to our podcast and just improve their investing IQ? And it feels to us like this is a tough time to learn, you know what I mean, between the meme stocks and between you know, everybody's isolated, so you don't have that kind of group chat where you used to go into a coffee house and you talk to people about what's happening in the market, and now you're kind of sitting at home, you know what I mean? Uh I mean, do you feel like there's there's a different components to this market or even like one-day options? I'm in the option space, and that just to me is well, that's not really investing, that's speculating. I mean, how do you feel about that?

Stephanie Lang 17:42

Yeah, I do feel like, you know, in this type of environment, when you see moves like we've seen in the market, people want a piece of that. And I I mean, I remember back in the 90s, it's like, you know, you your , you know, your personal trainers making more money in the portfolio than you are because there's so much moment in the market, and you know, everyone's kind of chasing the hot stock regardless of you know what the fundamentals are. And so I think the n bers are so big right now in terms of money flowing into this space that even though the some of these moves, obviously, if you go up that much in a day, what you know comes up must come down. But and you'll see that you'll see, you know, everything kind of overextends and then comes back, and then you might see the trend continue. But , yeah, I think, you know, in terms of advice for individual investors is that, you know, if you want to try to chase some of these hotter names, , you know, have a bucket for that. Because while again, I'm it's it is my belief that we're still in some of the earlier innings and there will eventually be a bubble. I think there's still a lot of growth to be had. Now, will the winners right now be the winners in five years? You know, NVIDIA is gonna have more competition. Um, there's gonna be, you know, other chipmakers that will, you know, price will competition and other options. Um, so, but you know, we'll find out tomorrow with their earnings and you know, 80% revenue growth. It sounds pretty good to me still.

Steve Davenport 19:31

Um I guess I'm just trying to figure out how much is like I see that the you know, every time I watch a sporting event now, I get I get predictions on whether I should take the four and a half points or you know, I should take the individual bet on whether Wen Banyabe is gonna have 12 and a half rebounds or 13. And yeah, and I just feel like our lives are becoming more and more about hey, you can bet on that if you want to bet on that. Like it feels like more the society has turned into a betting society instead of an investing society. Am I just an old dog, or is that something that you've noticed too with the polymarket?

Stephanie Lang 20:11

Yeah, no, I I mean, look, the some of like you said, you know, one-day options and the the betting mentality, , memes talks and you know, Reddit and just following kind of the craze, you know, to me, yes, moment is a factor you can follow, but that can reverse on you pretty quickly, especially when there's this herd mentality. So, you know, I think I've always been of the belief like diversification is your friend, and sometimes you're not gonna, you know, hit those 80 percent. And but, you know, diversification, even with some of the indexes, has been, you know, become a little bit problematic in that you know the top 10 stocks are what over 40% of the SP now. So , you know, it's something that take caution to, but you know, you you have diversification, you have parts of your portfolio that will zig and zag when you know you see, you know, if tech kind of rolls over. But the good news is, I mean, even when we saw like the end of last year, be beginning of this year, when you saw tech under pressure, the market still held up relatively well. Um, because the economy's doing doing well right now. And you know, Elena GDP now is four percent for the second quarter. I mean, that's pretty incredible. We already talked about earnings. So, you know, have a diversified portfolio. Um, don't just have this betting mentality that that's You're doing in your portfolio, have diversification. If you have, you know, have buckets of liquidity. If you, you know, you everyone tells you your emergency fund. Um, if you're retired, you need, you know, if the market goes down, you don't want to be selling your stocks at the wrong time. Um, but you know, everyone needs that growth mentality so you can outpace inflation for the longer term. And the power of compounding is is powerful.

Steve Davenport 22:28

So yeah, I mean, how how how are you how do you come out on crypto and cryptocurrencies, some of that? Um I mean, I I like to try to understand it, I'd like to try to invest in it. I involved I owned Coinbase for a while early on, but it just seemed to be , I don't know, it it still seems to be kind of regulatory-wise and otherwise a little more of a step beyond than I'm willing to make. How do you look at it?

Stephanie Lang 23:02

Yeah, I mean, I never really have recommended any of the cryptocurrencies. Uh, part of it is

Crypto Without Fundamental Anchors

Stephanie Lang 23:10

if I'm gonna invest in an asset, I need there to be, you know, clear fundamentals behind it. Like what how are you getting to a value? And that you know, has to do with you know, what are what is the cash flows behind the asset, you know, that is creating value. And , you know, crypto is really more about what the next person thinks the value is. And it, you know, obviously it's been very sentiment driven. It's it's been interesting because sometimes it's been risk off, sometimes it's risk on. It's it's it's been harder to really kind of tell, you know, what how you can position it in a portfolio. But for me, , and you know, how we've recommended it both in the past and you know, present is if you want a small piece of your portfolio to put in it, , you know, you can do that because I don't think anyone can predict the future there. It could be disruptive by the government if they want to put together their own cryptocurrency. Um, but as we've seen, you know, more recently, it it really hasn't participated as much. So I think, you know, for me, I'm I'm okay to sit it out. Um, you know, I may regret that later, but again, I just want to be invested in assets that I can kind of determine the what I think the value should be, and then you know, decide if that makes sense. Um, you know, where it's currently priced. And obviously that can go in and out, but I don't have a great way to do that with with crypto.

Clem Miller 24:59

Clone, what do you want to do? Yeah, so yeah, I'm just thinking about what you were saying about tech stocks, how they've risen so fast, but earnings. It sounds like it sounds like you're of sort of two minds about about the tech stocks. You think they might have a ways to go, it might be early. On the other hand, you look at how far prices have risen, share prices have risen so far. That leads me to the question of sales discipline, sell discipline. You know, how do you like at what point? How how how high do the semiconductor and

Sell Discipline And Valuation Signals

Clem Miller 25:41

other tech stocks have to go before you start selling them?

Stephanie Lang 25:48

Yeah, and again, I'm not advocating to try to sell in and out of semiconductor names because I think you know that's gonna be tough. But I will say, you know, as they become more and more part of the the bigger index indexes or you know, even asset managers, they tend to have to have a piece of these names. Like NVIDIA, if you you don't own it, it's you know, you've been underperforming for a while. So a lot of these, whether you're passive or active, you're gonna be in some of these, you know, bigger parts of the index, and those that is becoming semiconductors. So what I would say is, again, I I go back to the fundamentals. And while prices can overshoot and kind of come back, but if the fundamentals are supporting the growth of the price of the stock, then I think, you know, and that can get out of whack if if things go parabolic for too long. But I think, you know, what you've seen is you know, earnings growth is is been very steady. Sometimes you'll the peg ratio will get out of whack and then it'll come back. And I don't I I think it's still, you know, in a place where if you're growing 80% a year, you're gonna, you know, and you you have a 40% or 40 PE, you know, I'll take that bet on those names. So I I kind of go back. I really like the peg ratio. Is it something I would anchor to do?

Steve Davenport 27:33

You're speaking from the same hymnal as Clem. He's on here talking about his own.

Clem Miller 27:38

I like to I want to see forward peg below one. Uh, but even then I'm a little skeptical about these earnings growth projections. That's why we're called the skeptics, guys. Yeah. And and also another thing I look at is the short ratio because that tells me who the short sellers are betting against. And I have noticed that those short ratios have gone up over the last six months or so, which tells me that there's growing speculation, a growing set anti sentiment from the from the short sellers about a lot a n ber of these stocks. So that that and probably they're looking at you know the parabolic move that that you've noted. So I think you know, the between the parabolic move and the short sellers, , you know, I'm a little skeptical about the the the forward peg signal. Even though I believe it, I believe the forward peg signal. To me, I'd rather I'd much rather have a low forward peg than a higher forward peg. Much I mean, I just rule out the higher forward forward pegs. Um, but still I'm a little skeptical about the parabolic and the high short ratios.

Steve Davenport 29:02

Yeah, I mean the SP having a 12% short ratio when an average is one to two.

Stephanie Lang 29:08

I mean, that's it's the easiest, it's the most liquid, it's the easiest way to express an opinion, and people are expressing it, which yeah, I think you know, the average markets say 10 years ago, the average return of the SP over the last hundred years is closer to 10, and now it's you know probably closer to 12. So we have been in an incredible market for you know really the last 10 plus years. So, you know, at some point you wonder, but if you look at just the makeup of the SP, it has really shifted, you know, to some bit of tech, , which whether you know they broke apart tech and moved around companies and is still like you know, we were saying earlier, the top 10 companies are 40 percent in you know really have to do with with tech names. So , you know, I I just go back to the earnings and I think as you you'll I think eventually you'll see kind of the build-out sort of even off. And I, you know, from what I've read, we probably might see some evening off in the next couple years in terms of spending, you know, in terms of the growth. It will stay high, but it's not gonna be on this cliff. So , but right now demand is outstripping supply. And for those, you know, companies that are providing kind of the picks and shovels, if you will, that's been kind of the winner because everyone's using AI. I mean, to your point, , you know, as starting my own business, it's never been easier than ever. Because while I used to rely on a team of analysts, I can use Claude to build, you know, help me quickly build out Excel or more PowerPoint or, you know, whatever it may be. While I still have an analyst, but I can do a lot of the things myself with the help of AI and quickly put together proposals and agreements, and it it is a huge productivity booster. So I do think that will, you know, translate into the bottom line for companies. You you you see, you know, it's I think it's small at this point in terms of , you know, that hitting unemployment, but I think that will trickle through and you can focus more companies can focus more on growth and efficient, you know, the efficiency part will really take care of itself with a lot of the advances in technology.

Steve Davenport 32:00

One of the things we like to ask some of our guests is is if they could pass on something to a younger Stephanie, what would you tell Stephanie who's graduating from UGA and thinking about getting her graduate degree, or is she gonna learn, you know, a language to help with you know some of the programming? What would you what would you tell somebody in your position that, you know, that you think is important for them to get where they want to get and get that happiness or that balance in their life?

Stephanie Lang 32:33

Yeah, I have a I have a couple things that have guided my career and I think you know led me down the the right path. And I say one is don't let money entirely drive your decision making. And sometimes that's hard to do, especially when you're younger and an extra 10 grand can mean that vacation or new couch or new car or whatever it may be. Um but ultimately if you kind of lean into one areas that you're you're good at and you can add value, but two, going to companies that really have the best growth trajectory. And I'll say, you know, when I took my first job out of college at Robinson H phrey, I was gonna make $21,000 a year. I couldn't even afford to move out of my parents' house. I had another job offer that was more like $40,000 a year. But I decided at Robinson H phrey, and they were gonna give me overtime and a bonus, and , that it was a great opportunity. And the and the lady I was gonna be working with very closely day today, I knew I would enjoy working with her. So I I decided I'm gonna go that route. It's a great company, it's a great growth trajectory, and I think I'll enjoy coming to work every day. And that woman is still one of my best friends today. It led me down the right path for my career, and I probably made the same amount my first year anyway, with overtime and all that. So those things tend to work itself out. Um so I would say that's my first bit of advice. And my my second is push yourself to do uncomfortable things because that's where all the growth occurs. And, you know, there's several points in my career where I did things that were uncomfortable and maybe I didn't even want to do, but I knew I should. And, you know, it would help my career and help the firm I was working for. And, you know, one example of that is the first time I went on CNBC, , I kind of got thrust into that. They kind of cold-called our CEO and basically were trying to get people on the halftime report that weren't, you know, older white men from New York. And so I, you know, checked that box. And so, you know, what we did at HB at the time wasn't, you know, kind of the hot stock pick of the week, which is a lot of what they do on CNBC. Um so I was like, well, I don't know if that's a good fit for me. But, you know, ended up kind of doing a Zoom tryout and then going up and trying out in their studios, and ended up, you know, having a pretty long stint on CNBC as a regular, , which was, you know, something that was kind of scary because you're live national television, you don't know what they're gonna ask you, but I got better at it as as I went and you know definitely helped myself, my career, and my firm.

Steve Davenport 36:01

So that's great. Um I mean when when we look forward this year, I mean, the big thing that seems to be on our radar screen is these mega IPOs. And what what are we gonna do with an IPO like SpaceX that's a trillion dollars? I mean, is it gonna get included immediately in benchmarks? And is that gonna you know immediately stretch? You know, where is it gonna come from? What are we gonna we're gonna make the smaller parts of the market even smaller? I guess. Um how do you look at this extra period these companies have had? Do you think it makes them better companies to have stayed private longer? Do you think going public earlier

Mega IPOs And Staying Private Longer

Steve Davenport 36:43

might have been better for the company to get disciplined? Or I mean there's a lot of theories about the the firm and what's the optimal structure for the firm. But yeah, in in my mind, this is no, just as an individual risk. I mean, usually there's one person and he's responsible for one firm. Instead, now we have one individual responsible for two or three trillion dollar companies, you know what I mean? And it's just it it feels like nobody's thinking about these kind of old ideas of you know, single man risk. I mean, what happens if Elon gets hit by the bus?

Clem Miller 37:21

Do you think about some of these things that is that is that better or worse if he gets hit by the bus? Proverbial.

Steve Davenport 37:28

I'm not gonna say that. I'm just saying it's unusual to me that this, you know, we used to worry about one guy, you know, Jack Welch. If Jack Welch, you know, goes all of GE will dissolve down the drain. And and I just think it's kind of funny that we're we're talking about these things coming up. And is that the future you think? Longer time away from going public, or do you think that it's it's worked or it hasn't worked for these guys?

Stephanie Lang 37:57

Yeah, I mean it it's just the reality of all the regulation that you know companies don't want to go public in most cases, and even you know, some of the even when they do, there it's not that much of the float of, you know, it's there's still gonna be a ton of it not on the public market. So I think you know, it's the reality of companies staying longer. It's why you've seen the public the private market grow so much and the public, you know, the n ber of public companies it just isn't growing that much. And so you have this reality though that when the IPO market starts to open up, yeah. I mean, these companies want to capitalize on that timing and get a piece. I mean, you looked at, isn't it Cerebrus? Is that how you pronounce it? But you know, 80 times oversubscribe. I think it went up like 60% in one day, it's come down a little bit. But yeah, the the you know, these companies with smart management, why not take advantage of you know a market that is, you know, arguably frothy, , and you know, try to to raise some capital around that. So I think what's interesting though is you know, with these big names IPOs coming down, you know, the hatch, if you will. I mean, we'll we'll find out pretty quickly, I guess, with SpaceX. I think their roadshow begins next week, , to kind of see how well received it is. But from everything I've read, and my sense is that it will be very well received. And then, you know, you'll have AI, , open AI, and anthropic, you know, likely quickly following. And what it what we'll do to the market, I think, is right now, if you want exposure to AI, you really only have the picks and shovels. And now you're gonna get really more first-hand possibilities and exposure in the public markets. But my sense is this could be contribute to even more froth in the market. Um, but you know, I guess we'll have to see how these price. I mean, I was kind of looking at like what are the ranges that are expected to be for open AI or anthropic, , even SpaceX. I mean, Cerebus, I think, was the biggest IPO of all time, and it's gonna be dwarfed by these other companies. So you can have the possibility of them coming out with trillion-dollar valuations.

Steve Davenport 40:41

We'll see if that actually plays out. I always think about risk until I was looking, and they're gonna launch on Monday, you know, at space one of the SpaceX facilities. And I'm like, boy, you know, like that's a lot of pressure to be like, you know, that every time you launch with a rocket, you know what I mean? The environment, the wind, the you know, a lot of things can happen. And it's like that's that's confidence that you could say, hey, we're gonna go public in a week or so, and this launch is gonna be, you know, basically our showing the world that we're here and we you know I I think it takes a lot of courage, and I know that you know Musk is a genius in some ways, but it it feels to me like how many balls can he keep in the air, and how many balls can you, you know, and I mean juggle well. I I think he's he's he's certainly you know can think about these things, but I just worry about that next layer below him at these companies and how they you know could operate or be independent of it.

Stephanie Lang 41:47

Yeah, and I mean, you know, they're there the past there's been the rise and fall of the biggest companies in the world, and they they aren't the you know the biggest companies ten years down the road. So there'll be some of that too. Um and you know, the big winners now, like you know, I think it will shift from NVIDIA to to other companies at some point, like it always does.

Clem Miller 42:11

So do you think when these new companies come online, come onto the market, do you think that will lift the other ones, the existing ones, or do you think that will depress the existing ones?

Stephanie Lang 42:23

That's a good question. I mean, I think you know, investors are gonna have more options in AI. Um, so I think it it could temper, you know, the picks and shovels and move to kind of the the large language models, if you will. Um but I I think you know, I think there's a certain hype to it all that if you see these, you know, h ongous moves that there's gonna be an overall excitement. So maybe NVIDIA continues to move up because it, you know, just based on fundamentals, if it continues to grow, it the stock price should continue to move up. But , you know, maybe the the kind of sentiment moves to the the picks and shovels, to more of the the models, and then later more spread out to productivity gains.

Steve Davenport 43:20

I know you mentioned Claude. I mean, how do you feel about the use of AI and the like the transparency or the understanding between different models? I've heard some people who are real Google fans, and I've heard other people who are Cloud fans, and I don't necessarily, you know, we're looking at a a software called J p to help our operations internally. I mean, how do you look at the future? Do you think you you know you're gonna be taking some classes in you know programming your right your bot? Uh or do you think it you'll you look at it and you still want to maintain that kind of overall.

Using AI Tools Without Getting Fooled

Stephanie Lang 44:05

Yeah, no, I mean I think everyone's gonna have to get versed in AI. And you know, it's you know, I'm sure I can get I'm not I've never been a programmer. Um you know, maybe I've talked to some other small business centers that are starting to kind of incorporate that. But you know, even just you know, maybe that's down the road, but I'm starting with, you know, I use Claude on , you know, PowerPoint Excel because it's a nice add-in right there. Um I also have Chat GPT where you know obviously just proofreading and building out proposals and agreements, it's been very helpful. But sometimes if I ask it a question, you know, like give me a stat around oil prices or something, and I'm like, oh, that's not right. I might ask, you know, Claude or something like that. Um, so I mean, you still need h an eyes to know and experience and you know, some higher level of knowledge to know when the models are wrong, because they they are wrong quite a bit. So , so I think you know, I'm gonna try to get better and better at it, you know, and hopefully, you know, and I still like you know, have a daughter going into college. I think it's everyone's gonna be tasked of being versed in this because even if you're not programming, , you can be way more efficient using AI correctly. Um, and those are the people that are gonna excel versus fall behind. So I think you know it's all up to us. Have I taken a class yet? No, but maybe I should. Um, you know, I'm just I'm not taking a class.

Steve Davenport 45:58

I'm gonna know.

Stephanie Lang 46:00

Yeah, I'm just I'm just using it as I go, but , I'm getting better and better at it. I would say that.

Clem Miller 46:06

I think actually it teaches you. Yeah. Hey, the more you use it, it the the more it teaches you how best to prompt.

unknown 46:20

That's it.

Stephanie Lang 46:20

Yeah, they they know you know they know you and they can offer us advice on certain things and exactly take it or leave it, I guess.

Steve Davenport 46:30

So we got about five minutes left, and , I'd like to kind of finish on like what what are the things or what you're involved with in terms of the community and charities and things that you know I mean would it might be helpful to for our listeners to to know about so that they could we like to have stuff that people can click on and our links to kind of learn more about you and learn more about what you're you're doing in the community.

Stephanie Lang 46:58

Yeah, so I'm on several nonprofit boards. Um and I've I've been involved with some things through through my kids' school in terms of nonprofit

Nonprofits And Community Board Work

Stephanie Lang 47:11

boards. So I've been involved with Mercy Care for I think eight or nine years now, and it's an organization dedicated to providing health care to the homeless and you know those who kind of need it most. And so they have two clinics, one's in Shamley, one's in Decatur, , where they've you know been able to really help those who have nowhere else to turn. And so they also have like a mobile unit where they they go to homeless camps and provide homeless people with you know much needed medication and really connect with them. So it's a wonderful organization. And I, you know, I first got involved on their investment committee because they needed, you know, help there. And I'd like, you know, to share my talents and where I could add value for them. But it's that's great, extremely meaningful organization. And then also in the community foundation for greater Atlanta, which is you know trying to, you know, really help the city of Atlanta help also bridge some of those gaps on you know socioeconomic issues and and it's you know also able to you know provide partners with affordable housing. And so that they're doing a lot of good things for the city of Atlanta and been involved there quite a while. And then I've also been chair of Maris Women Build, where my kids go to school and we provide it partner with Habitat for H anity and build a house every year. So I was the chair of that last year, and that's great. Something meaningful.

Clem Miller 48:57

That's a lot.

Stephanie Lang 48:59

Yeah.

Steve Davenport 48:59

Yeah, but two kids a full-time job, and you know, I I I'm amazed that my my uncle used to work in the post office and he was in charge of these different people. And he says, anytime you need to get something done, put it on the desk of somebody who has a lot of things on his desk. Because if people are putting things on his desk, they're the ones who are getting things done. The person with nothing on his desk that looks completely clean, it's it's clean for a reason, you know. So I love the fact that you're so active and , you know, I I'd leave the last two minutes to you, Stephanie. Uh tell us, you know, how you want us to think about your firm and you and the as a solutions maker, and also just , you know, what would you like to get out there that's currently not out there about your new firm?

Stephanie Lang 49:49

Yeah, so like I said, Armor Point Advisors, OCAO Consulting Services. And so, you know, I'd love to talk to anyone that, you know, as I mentioned, wealth management, they could be pure investment help to helping them grow and institutionalizing their firm. Um, family offices, I think where I can probably add the most value is someone that has, you know, a new

Who ArmorPoint Helps And Why

Stephanie Lang 50:16

liquidity event, and they're kind of now what do I do? And they need kind of an unbiased voice to help them along the way and decide, you know, what path do I go down? And so I can help them evaluate whether they want to set up their own family office, hire an OCIO. Um, and you know, so there's a lot of choices, but most of the time those people have, you know, someone that has their own axe to grind. And so they're, you know, tend to kind of push them in one direction or another because they might benefit. So trying to be an unbiased voice. And then with nonprofits, I would say that, you know, I've been on these boards for a long time, and you tend to see turnover in the organization, you tend to see turnover at the investment committee level. Um, and the OCIO tends to be, you know, the longest standing group, if you will, , as part of that organization. And, you know, who's looking after them? And so, you know, I could assist on the nonprofit side to really be that constant and make sure that the missions you know objectives are being carried out, , you know, in in terms of especially on the on the investment side and making sure you know all the fiduciary aspects are coming into play. So I always love to see how I can help. And you know, I love kind of networking in general. So, you know, if I if any of that resonates with you, I'd love to talk further.

Steve Davenport 51:59

Okay, thanks. I really appreciate you joining us, and we'd love to get your insights, you know, going forward. Clem and I are sometimes I guess maybe have a I hope aired into the cynical side of skeptic and there's usually a more a little more into the markets and fundamentals. And so I think it's great to have different perspectives and different ideas, and , we really enjoy talking to you today.

Stephanie Lang 52:27

Great.

Steve Davenport 52:29

Everybody