Buttonwood Communications Group: PR Firm Profile

Part of EPR's PR Firms cluster. Adjacent: Financial Services · Investor Relations · .

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)
• Ownership: Founder-owned, independent
• Website: buttonwoodpr.com

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.

For the broader category lens, see EPR's Financial Services coverage and the profile — the enterprise-tier counterpart.

Related EPR Coverage

• The Leading PR Firms Guide
• Financial Services
• Investor Relations
• 5W AI Communications: Agency Profile

Related: MC Group Communications: PR Firm Profile