Dec 4, 2025
Kevin Shea is a Director/Senior Equity Strategist at BNY Mellon,
where he focuses on individual security analysis, market structure,
and emerging technologies—most notably artificial intelligence.
Raised in a blue-collar household in Boston, Kevin learned the
value of investing early and carried that discipline through Penn
State University and into his professional life. He earned the CFA
charter while beginning his career at Merrill Lynch Investment
Management, eventually joining BNY Mellon’s Equity Advisory Group,
a team dedicated to helping wealth clients navigate complex equity
markets and fast-moving innovation cycles.
In this episode, Kevin joins Steve Curley and co-host Dan Fasciano
to break down the state of AI, technology leadership, and the
increasing concentration within U.S. equity markets. He explains
why today’s mega-cap technology firms continue to
dominate—highlighting advantages in data scale, free-cash-flow
margins, and unparalleled AI investment. The discussion explores
whether we are in an “AI bubble,” how current valuations compare to
the late-1990s dot-com era, and the unprecedented
capital-expenditure supercycle underway as companies race to build
data-center infrastructure. Kevin also offers a global
lens—comparing U.S. and Chinese capabilities, semiconductor
constraints, and the geopolitical factors shaping the AI race.
The conversation then pivots to how AI is transforming the
investment-research process itself. Kevin walks through the tools
BNY Mellon and industry analysts increasingly rely on—from ChatGPT
and internal models like “Eliza” to AlphaSense, Sentieo, and
Claude—and how these systems enable teams to process far more
information than ever before. He also discusses how AI-driven
productivity may help address demographic and inflation challenges
over the long run. The episode closes with a memorable perspective
on work ethic, drawing parallels between success in investing and
Kobe Bryant’s “Mamba mentality,” emphasizing that excellence is
built on consistent, behind-the-scenes effort.
Today's hosts are Steve Curley,
CFA (Co-Managing Principal at 55 North Private Wealth)
& co-host Dan
Fasciano, CFA (Principal at GW&K
Investment Management)
Please enjoy the episode. You can follow us on Twitter & LinkedIn or
at investorsfirstpodcast.com