2025 was a year of paradoxes for the U.S. financial sector. On one hand, much of the year was defined by a surge in AI-driven investments, resulting in historic market concentration as AI stocks wildly outperformed the broader market, which culminated in record-setting highs for the Dow and S&P 500.
On the other hand, the year was also characterized by significant market volatility, driven primarily by President Trump’s tariff policies, which resulted in higher consumer prices, lower consumer confidence and a weakened U.S. dollar as the Federal Reserve embarked on a rate-cutting cycle, which only increased already stubborn inflationary pressures. And now, with geopolitical crises such as the ongoing war in Iran, which has caused severe energy shortages and massive supply-chain chaos, 2026 isn’t exactly shaping up to be smoother sailing.
Despite this volatility, the top ten independent public relations firms ranked this year by O’Dwyer’s for financial PR and investor relations were responsible for more than $371 million in finance-related net fees in 2025, a climb of $46 million from the $325 million in finance-related net fees those firms earned in 2024. Eight of the firms in our top ten revealed gains this year—compared to only five last year and six in our 2024 rankings—another clear indication of growth. We asked executives at some of the top-performing financial PR and investor relations firms what factors attributed to their success last year and what challenges and trends lie ahead as they navigate a landscape that remains anything but certain.
ICR retains #1 spot
 Anton Nicholas |
Last year, ICR surged ahead of Edelman to claim the number-one spot in O’Dwyer’s financial rankings for the first time. Consider this year a variation on a theme: The agency retained its number-one position after earning $131 million in finance-related net fees in 2025, revealing an astounding $30 million gain from 2024’s $101 million, which similarly bested the $12 million gain the agency achieved from 2023’s $89 million.
ICR CEO Anton Nicholas, who succeeded Tom Ryan for the top executive post earlier this year, told O’Dwyer’s that he attributes the agency’s performance to the core model that has always driven its success: pairing Wall Street analysts and capital markets veterans with senior communications professionals with deep vertical expertise, which continues to resonate strongly with new and existing clients.
Nicholas also said that companies today find themselves navigating greater complexity, increased scrutiny and activist pressure and more narrative-sensitive capital allocation decisions. As a result, maintaining separate IR and PR efforts with competing priorities isn’t just inefficient for financial communications agencies; it can also be a liability.
| This article is featured in O'Dwyer's May '26 PR Firm Rankings Magazine |
“When we are in the room with management teams facing consequential moments, whether a transaction, a crisis or a leadership change, they are not looking for a firm that handles one piece and hands off the rest. They need advisors who understand both what needs to be said and how the market will receive it, and who can help them navigate those moments to build momentum with their key constituents, including investors, employees, partners, clients, and customers,” Nicholas said. “At the foundation of all of this is talent. This is, at its core, a people business. Clients engage us for our experience and expertise, and they stay with us because of who we are. Our retention, both client and employee, reflects that. By investing in culture and developing people who combine business acumen with communications expertise and an unrelenting commitment to client service from the outset, we have built something that is both special and difficult to replicate. That is our moat, and it compounds over time, ultimately driving our success.”
When asked where he sees the finance world headed this year and beyond, Nicholas pointed to AI and how financial companies that fail to implement an AI strategy will face scrutiny and eventually lose credibility over time. He also mentioned the return of the IPO market, the “meaningful backlog of companies that have been waiting for the right window,” and the current market conditions that might result in that window opening soon. Finally, Nicholas discussed the ongoing acceleration of M&A scrutiny.
“Global deal activity has been surging, but alongside that boom has come a more intense media cycle, more activist challenges to announced transactions, and tighter regulatory review in cross-border situations. What we’re seeing is that narrative can influence outcomes in M&A in ways that it simply didn’t before. A deal with a weak or inconsistent communications strategy doesn’t just have a comms problem—it has a strategy problem,” Nicholas said. “For CEOs and their teams today, it really comes down to one thing. The clients who are winning in this environment are those treating narrative as a material variable in their business strategy, not a function that gets called in after a decision is made,” Nicholas said.
APCO excels at communicating complexity
 Benjamin Faull |
APCO Worldwide had another fantastic year in the finance world in 2025, retaining the number-three spot in O’Dwyer’s financial PR rankings with nearly $46 million in finance-related net fees, accounting for a gain of nearly $12 million from 2024’s $34 million.
Benjamin Faull, APCO’s North America Financial Communications Practice Lead, attributed the agency’s success to its understanding of geopolitical risk and headwinds, its ability to meet the needs of clients and, of course, excellent strategy.
“Like in other aspects of communications, business as usual no longer cuts it,” Faull said. “Communicating to investors requires putting the business strategy into the context of the complexity and transformation happening in the world. As a leading advisory firm with a highly integrated global team, APCO is able to do this in ways pure-play IR teams cannot. Clients want and need this, which is why they are increasingly relying on us.”
Looking forward, Faull said client demand for communicating this contextual understanding of business strategy will only accelerate, even if the economy slows.
“Businesses are going to need to adapt to changing industrial policy, new economic alliances and capital flows, transforming supply chains, increased shareholder activism as investors seek alpha and more adaptive capital solutions,” Faull said.
Gregory moves into the number-six slot
 Joe Anthony |
Ardmore, PA-based agency Gregory (formerly known as Gregory FCA) saw finance-related net-fee gains of almost $3 million in 2025 to total $14.6 million in finance related net fees, moving up to the number-six slot in O’Dwyer’s financial PR rankings from the number-seven position last year.
The agency has been on the upswing for some time. In 2024, Gregory similarly accounted for $11.8 million in finance-related earnings, revealing gains of more than $3.9 million from 2023’s $7.8 million, which caused the agency to crack into the O’Dwyer’s top 10 for the first time.
Gregory Partner & President Joe Anthony told O’Dwyer’s that he attributes the firm’s financial services practice growth to three key reasons. First was the 2024 acquisition of financial communications agency BackBay Communications, which effectively established one of the country’s largest financially focused strategic communications firms. Second has been Gregory’s ability to attract and retain financial-media talent that has allowed the agency to broaden its reach. Third, the agency has continued to invest in staff education to sharpen the ecosystem knowledge that makes its general staff and executives capable of offering nuanced insights when advising clients.
Anthony predicts that the financial services sector will remain on edge due to ongoing uncertainty around geopolitical issues as well as midterm elections.
“We see specialist asset managers in both public markets and private markets and enterprise wealth management firms likely to double down on PR and marketing spends when some of the dust settles with the Middle East conflict and the upcoming midterm election.”
Highwire joins the top 10
 Greg Hassel |
Highwire this year has appeared in the top 10 for O’Dwyer’s rankings of financial PR for the first time, based on $8.4 million in 2025 finance-related net fees.
At the beginning of the year, the San Francisco-based agency acquired The Bliss Group, bringing the combined firm’s total staff roster to more than 250 professionals across North America.
Financial Services EVP Greg Hassel, who joined the agency from The Bliss Group, cited broad capital-markets optimism that helped buoy the agency’s financial services growth in 2025, with an IPO and M&A deal rebound, easing inflation and interest rates, and a surge in private equity activity. A more positive economic and financial outlook meant that companies were eager to deploy budgets and find new ways to tell stories about growth initiatives, especially AI.
“While many firms struggled with client consolidation and budget freezes, we leaned into the areas of finance that were still moving: fintech innovation, consumer financial services, and wealth management transformation, to name a few,” Hassel said. “What differentiated us was our ability to serve clients across the entire financial ecosystem, bringing 35-plus years of experience reaching audiences from the boardroom to the everyday consumer.”
Hassel said the agency’s work also benefited from a broader market shift: the recognition that financial communications requires more than traditional investor relations.
“Companies today need agencies that understand the regulatory environment and can navigate complex narratives across earned, owned, and digital channels. And just as important as execution, clients expect us to think through their most pressing communications challenges and help them ‘see around the corner.’ That’s the kind of trusted advisory relationship that clients hold onto, both in volatile times and bull markets.”
Hassel said that technology and, specifically, AI, is fundamentally reshaping financial services companies to the extent that having an AI strategy has become something of a baseline expectation.
“Firms that invest in communicating their AI strategy with simplicity, reliability and humanity will build stakeholder trust that translates directly into market position. Those that don’t should expect a worse return on their AI investments, regardless of how innovative their platform is.”
Hassel additionally cited three trends to keep an eye on. One is the growth of direct-to-consumer financial tools that are reshaping the advice landscape and pitting financial brands against each other in a competition for consumer attention in ways that make them appear more like consumer tech brands than traditional banking. Another is the shift away from top-tier and above-the-fold business and financial media coverage to Substacks and AI Overviews, which is changing how earned media success is measured. Finally, Hassel pointed to the communications opportunities that have arisen from clients’ newfound need for 360-degree communications support and planning before, during and after the deal, now that M&A deal activity has recovered.
“From rebranding and investor narrative integration to employee communications and regulatory messaging, agencies are expected to do more. Those that can step into a post-merger environment and immediately build a coherent, credible narrative will be in high demand. That requires both strategic depth and execution speed, and very few can deliver both.”
PR has moved mostly to the agency side where extensive special practice areas have built up over the past 30 years. For example, O’Dwyer’s currently has 79 ranked firms in healthcare and 64 in technology based on 2025 fees. Only O’Dwyer’s does such rankings which are usually at or near the top in Google searches for those categories.
PR firms that are thinking of joining O'Dwyer's rankings should consider the benefit of third party endoresement. This is the bedrock principle of PR -- others recognize you. The O’Dwyer Co. has been doing PR firm rankings for 57 years and its name is well known in the business world. Our rankings measure counseling and media contact services, not advertising or production expenses.
Catalyst IR handles Mobix Labs as it signs a “non-binding letter of intent” to acquire Special Project Delivery LLC, a privately-owned platform with positions in US rare earth properties.
The Blueshirt Group handles Lime as the San Francisco-based electric bike/scooter company has filed paperwork for an initial public offering, which will have an expected valuation in the $2B range.
Why CEOs need their CFOs and CCOs on the same page.
ICR handles Rare Earths Americas as the Manchester, Georgia-based company plans an initial public offering valued in the $370M range.
DGA Group handles takeover target Intertek as the London-based quality assurance testing company as it launches a strategic review of its operations.
