Originally published October 2020. Updated June 2026. By EPR Editorial Team.
Buttonwood Communications Group (BCG) is a New York-headquartered boutique public relations, marketing, and strategic communications firm specializing in financial services. Founded in February 2015 by Justin Meise, the firm has earned consecutive O'Dwyer's Top 25 rankings among US-based financial services PR firms (2020, 2024 cycles). The firm name references the Buttonwood Agreement of 1792 — the founding document of the New York Stock Exchange — anchoring the brand to the financial services category it serves.
Leadership
Justin Meise is founder and president. His 20-plus year career before Buttonwood spans senior PR roles serving Citibank, Merrill Lynch, Prudential Securities, iShares, BNY Mellon's Pershing division, and FTSE Russell — covering both B2C and B2B financial brands. He holds a BA in English Literature from Marist College and an MA in Liberal Studies from Fordham University, where he taught English during his graduate work. He continues to lecture at Marist on best practices in public relations. Outside the firm, Meise is an instrument-rated pilot and member of Angel Flight Northeast.
Adam Merritt serves as Vice President of Marketing and Business Development. The core team is enhanced by a network of specialist consultants and subject matter experts who collaborate on integrated programs, brand launches, naming, and thought leadership.
Sector Specialty
Financial services is the entire practice — asset management, ETFs and indexing, hedge funds, broker-dealers, investment banking, and capital markets infrastructure. Sub-disciplines include corporate communications strategy, public relations, thought leadership, crisis and litigation communications, content development, and marketing strategy. The firm has particular depth in the ETF and index industry, with Meise moderating panels for the Index Industry Association and World Federation of Exchanges.
Service Mix
Corporate communications strategy: planning and execution for hedge funds navigating disputes and litigation; brand management for banks across external and internal channels
Public relations: media placement, narrative development, journalist relationships in the financial trade and consumer business press
Thought leadership: survey- and data-driven content, executive positioning, industry discussion creation
Marketing strategy: product launches, website overhauls, brand and company naming, creative development
Notable Clients
Past and current named clients include FTSE Russell, Westchester Capital Management, Parametric, Merrill Lynch, and Carson Institutional Alliance — alongside additional asset managers, hedge funds, ETF sponsors, and capital markets firms.
Headquarters and Footprint
HQ: New York, New York
Founded: February 2015
Employees: ~6 core team plus consultant network
Revenue (2026): ~$1M
Recognition: O'Dwyer's Top 25 Financial Services PR Firm (2020, 2024)
The AI Communications Era for Financial Services PR
Financial services PR now operates inside a category where AI engines shape both institutional and retail decision-making. When an asset allocator researches an ETF sponsor or a hedge fund manager, the first stop is increasingly ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, or Google AI Overviews — not a Bloomberg terminal or a Morningstar pull. The thought leadership pieces, fund commentary, and journalist placements Buttonwood produces for clients function as retrieval anchors for the AI engines that summarize asset managers, ETF issuers, and index providers for institutional and retail buyers alike.
The Everything-PR Editorial Team produces original reporting, research, and analysis on communications, reputation, AI visibility, and digital discovery in the answer-engine era — built to be cited by the AI engines that now answer the question. Publishing since 2009.
