Redefining Marketing in Financial Services:
Alignment, AI,
and the Power of Trust
A Gramercy Institute Conversation with Leah Curtis, Chief Marketing Officer, Meeder Investment Management
Gramercy Institute Chief Analyst, Bill Wreaks recently interviewed Leah Curtis on a variety of subjects related to her success and the success of Meeder Investment Management within the context of the changing financial services marketing landscape.
Leah Curtis approaches financial services marketing with the perspective of someone who has lived on both sides of the business. Beginning her career as a financial advisor serving high-net-worth clients, she developed a practical understanding of how investment products are positioned, sold, and ultimately experienced by clients. That foundation continues to shape her leadership as Chief Marketing Officer of Meeder Investment Management, where she views marketing not as a support function, but as a strategic driver of growth, alignment, and transformation across the firm.
Aligning Marketing and Sales for Growth
At the center of Curtis’s philosophy is a strong conviction that marketing and sales must operate as a unified system. She sees alignment not as an abstract ideal, but as a daily operational discipline built on trust, shared accountability, and consistent collaboration. Having earned a seat at both the executive and distribution leadership tables, she emphasizes the importance of proximity and working alongside sales teams, participating in territory discussions, and maintaining direct exposure to client and advisor conversations. This closeness enables marketing to move beyond surface-level support and instead shape initiatives that are grounded in real-world demand.
Curtis believes that one of the biggest barriers to true alignment is organizational ego. In her view, both marketers and sales professionals must be willing to set aside rigid role definitions and acknowledge limitations in capacity and expertise. This cultural shift, toward openness, humility, and mutual reliance, creates the conditions for effective partnership. As firms evolve, she observes that alignment is becoming more common across the industry, driven by the need for efficiency, data transparency, and measurable outcomes.
Leah Curtis,
Chief Marketing Officer,
Meeder Investment Management
Leah Curtis is Chief Marketing Officer at Meeder Investment Management, where she has served since 2018. A member of the Executive team, she partners closely with Leadership to drive growth across Intermediary Distribution and the Public Funds organizations. Known for her hands-on leadership style, Curtis has built a high-performing marketing organization and leads initiatives to enhance the firm's brand, digital presence, and client engagement. Previously, she held senior marketing roles at Altegris, Matthews Asia, and Calamos Investments, bringing deep expertise in strategic marketing and distribution.
The Expanding Role of Marketing and AI
This evolution is closely tied to the expanding role of marketing within financial services organizations. Curtis describes a clear shift from marketing as an “order-taking” function to one that generates ideas, drives lead generation, and contributes directly to business strategy. Modern marketing teams are expected to deliver measurable impact, and advances in technology have made that expectation both possible and unavoidable. With integrated CRM systems and more sophisticated analytics, marketing can now demonstrate its influence on revenue and pipeline development with far greater precision.
Technology, particularly artificial intelligence, plays a central role in this transformation. Curtis has been an early and active advocate for AI adoption within her organization, not just as a tool for incremental efficiency, but as a catalyst for enterprise-wide change. This belief led to the creation of a dedicated leadership role, Vice President of AI Strategy and Transformation—tasked with embedding AI capabilities across all functions of the firm.
Importantly, Curtis does not position AI as a marketing-only initiative. Instead, she sees it as a horizontal capability that enhances every part of the business, from sales productivity to investment operations. Early results have validated this approach, with AI-driven tools already saving hundreds of hours by automating manual processes and accelerating workflows. For example, tasks that previously required several hours per week, such as assembling client reports, can now be completed in seconds through customized AI solutions.
Beyond efficiency gains, Curtis highlights AI’s role in improving both internal and external effectiveness. Internally, it enables teams to produce higher-quality work at greater speed, elevating communication, content development, and decision-making. Externally, it allows firms to scale personalization, adapt messaging across channels, and respond more dynamically to client needs. She also underscores AI’s value as a learning tool, helping marketers quickly build expertise in complex or unfamiliar areas, such as regulatory initiatives or emerging industry trends.
However, Curtis is equally clear that successful AI adoption requires structure and governance. At Meeder, this includes formal policies, training programs, and internal education initiatives designed to ensure that employees not only have access to AI tools, but also understand how to use them responsibly and effectively. In her view, firms that treat AI as an ad hoc experiment risk falling behind those that approach it with intentionality and leadership commitment.
Building a Brand on Trust and Partnership
While technology is transforming execution, Curtis maintains that brand remains the foundation of long-term success in financial services. At Meeder, brand is closely tied to the concept of partnership. Rather than positioning the firm as a product provider, she emphasizes a “trusted advisor to the advisor” model, where success is measured not by individual transactions but by the depth and durability of relationships.
This approach reflects a broader shift away from transactional marketing toward a more consultative, service-oriented model. Curtis describes how Meeder has evolved from promoting individual mutual funds to delivering integrated solutions, such as separately managed accounts and outsourced CIO services. In this context, the brand must communicate not just performance, but reliability, expertise, and a commitment to client outcomes.
Trust is the critical currency underpinning this model. Curtis sees trust as something that is built through consistent follow-through, access to expertise, and a willingness to engage at a deeper level. This includes providing advisors with direct access to investment professionals and creating opportunities for meaningful dialogue, rather than one-way communication. Marketing plays a key role in enabling these interactions, ensuring that the firm’s intellectual capital is visible, accessible, and aligned with client needs.
Bill Wreaks,
Chief Analyst,
Gramercy Institute
Bill is Chief Analyst of The Gramercy Institute. Based in New York City, GI is an industry think-tank focused on the intellectual needs of senior marketers from major financial firms. The Gramercy Institute is the largest global network of senior financial marketers in the world. GI produces numerous thought leadership forums and conferences in the financial services marketing space each year in Boston, Chicago, London, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Toronto.
Rethinking Team Structure and Talent
Organizational structure is another area where Curtis’s thinking reflects broader industry change. She has moved away from traditional, centralized marketing models toward a more embedded approach, where senior marketing leaders are aligned directly with specific distribution channels. These “channel marketers” participate in sales meetings, gather frontline insights, and develop targeted strategies that reflect the unique dynamics of each business segment.
At the same time, Curtis has built an internal “agency” model to execute against these strategies. This includes dedicated resources for design, digital, and operations, allowing the team to balance strategic input with high-quality production. Regular communication—through frequent meetings and constant availability—helps maintain cohesion across a partially remote workforce. For Curtis, responsiveness and accessibility are essential leadership traits, particularly in a distributed environment.
Her approach to talent reflects the increasing complexity of the marketing function. While technical skills remain important, Curtis places greater emphasis on traits such as accountability, initiative, and the ability to execute independently. She looks for individuals who can take direction and expand upon it—delivering outcomes that go beyond the initial brief. In a remote-first context, trust becomes a non-negotiable requirement, as does a genuine interest in the financial services industry.
Curtis also acknowledges the challenges of hiring in a field that requires both marketing expertise and domain knowledge. While it is often easier to recruit strong marketers, developing their understanding of investment management requires ongoing education and engagement. As a result, she prioritizes candidates who demonstrate curiosity and a willingness to immerse themselves in the industry, recognizing that this combination ultimately leads to more effective and credible marketing.
Taken together, Curtis’s perspective reflects a broader redefinition of marketing’s role within financial services. It is no longer confined to communications or branding, but extends into strategy, technology, and organizational design. Success depends on the ability to integrate across functions, leverage emerging tools, and maintain a clear focus on client and advisor needs.
Her approach offers a clear message: the future of financial services marketing will be shaped by those who can bridge disciplines, embrace innovation, and build trust at scale.
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