Few marketers have shaped as many major financial‑services brands - at as many pivotal moments - as Joan Khoury, Chief Marketing Officer of Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Across senior roles at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, LPL Financial, Bank of New York Mellon, and now a decade at Oppenheimer, Joan has built a career defined by clarity, cultural intelligence, and the ability to lead organisations through transformation.

Her closing keynote at the 2025 Americas Financial Services Marketing Leaders’ Summit was a masterclass in modern brand leadership - grounded, strategic, and delivered with the authority of someone who has lived through the industry’s most defining moments.

A Career Built at the Centre of Change

Joan’s career spans retail banking, private banking, global marketing, asset management, wealth management, and investment banking - but the common thread is timing. She has repeatedly stepped into organisations at moments of upheaval, integration, or reinvention.

At Bank of New York Mellon, she led global marketing and corporate philanthropy during a period of expansion and strategic repositioning. At Evergreen Investments, she guided the asset‑management brand through the Wachovia–Wells Fargo transition. At Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, she served as Global Head of Marketing during the Bank of America integration - one of the most complex brand and culture combinations in modern financial history. At LPL Financial, she became CMO shortly after the firm’s IPO, helping shape its post‑listing identity and growth strategy.

And for the past ten years, she has led brand and marketing at Oppenheimer & Co. Inc., steering the firm through leadership change, strategic clarity, and a major brand transformation.

“In the midst of chaos, you can find opportunity. And that’s when marketers are really needed the most.”

Her philosophy is simple but powerful: brand is culture, and culture is strategy.

“At the heart of a brand is your culture. Understanding it, articulating it, and aligning it with your way forward - that’s where marketers add the most value.”

Curiosity, Listening, and the Discipline of Being Uncomfortable

Joan attributes her effectiveness to three traits she believes marketers must never lose: curiosity, listening, and the willingness to be uncomfortable.

“You absolutely have to experience conversations in real time. Research can’t tell you everything.”

She blends classic research with frontline observation - staying close to bankers, advisors, and clients to understand the nuances that shape behaviour. It’s part art, part science, and entirely rooted in truth‑seeking.

This discipline has allowed her to move seamlessly between consumer audiences and institutional ones, adjusting language, channels, and expectations without losing clarity.

A Brand‑Led Transformation at Oppenheimer

Joan’s most significant recent work is the brand transformation at Oppenheimer - a project she describes as the most meaningful of her career because it wasn’t linear. It wasn’t a “new logo” exercise. It was a moment of organisational truth.

“This was not a typical brand project. It was about transition, heritage, clarity, and the future.”

The firm had just completed a CEO transition. It was approaching its 145‑year anniversary. And it needed to reconcile a proud heritage with a modern, forward‑looking identity.

The starting point was internal truth. Research revealed that 92% of employees were proud to work at Oppenheimer and believed they could achieve their career aspirations there. But it also showed the need for clearer articulation of strategy and a simpler, more unified narrative.

From there, Joan and her team built the brand from the inside out:

• Employees first - revamping internal communications, recognition programmes, onboarding, and cultural touchpoints.

• Frontline producers next - ensuring bankers, advisors, and capital markets teams had clarity, tools, and a voice in shaping the narrative.

• Market presence - expanding events, thought leadership, and experiential activity in key wealth markets.

• Clients and prospects - sharpening the firm’s point of view across emerging technologies, healthcare, AI, and other sectors where Oppenheimer has deep expertise.

The result was a value proposition that emerged organically from the research:
The Power of Oppenheimer Thinking.

“It was the clearest articulation I’ve ever seen. Over 90% of people said, ‘That’s who we are.’”

When a brand truth lands that cleanly, it becomes an anchor - not just for marketing, but for strategy, investor relations, and leadership.

Reframing Brand for the Board: A Business Case, Not a Campaign

One of Joan’s most practical insights is how she secured executive and board‑level support for the brand transformation. Her advice is blunt:

“Build a business case. Don’t make it about brand - make it about the growth of the company.”

She reframed brand as an investment, not an expense. She used corollary examples of companies whose long‑term value correlates with brand strength. And she positioned brand alongside technology, HR, and operations - a core component of the firm’s growth engine.

Her CEO and CFO became champions not because they love marketing, but because they understood brand as a strategic asset.

“They looked at brand the same way they look at an acquisition - evaluating management, product, systems, and long‑term value.”

It’s a powerful lesson for marketers struggling to gain traction internally: speak the language of growth, not the language of marketing.

145 Voices: A Brand Owned by Everyone

One of the most distinctive elements of Oppenheimer’s brand refresh is the 145 Voices campaign - a celebration of the firm’s 145‑year history told not by marketing, but by employees.

“At the end of the day, I want the brand to be owned by everyone. I’m just the custodian.”

Every day, the firm publishes stories on its intranet. Employees share their journeys on LinkedIn. Business leaders carry it into their teams. The brand is not a veneer - it’s a shared identity.

And because the brand architecture now aligns with how the business is organised - wealth management, investment banking, capital markets - it has become the foundation for investor relations, reporting, and leadership communication.

“It’s not a marketing campaign. It’s how the business is organised and how we report.”

That alignment is rare. And it’s powerful.

AI, Efficiency, and the Future of the Front Line

Like every firm, Oppenheimer is navigating the rise of AI. Joan’s view is pragmatic: the technology matters, but the governance, data, and processes matter more.

“We have to experiment. We don’t know yet. But we want to make our work quicker, better, faster.”

The firm has a sandbox, a governance framework, and a firm‑wide initiative led by a colleague overseeing AI strategy. For Joan, the opportunity is clear: reduce the administrative burden on frontline teams and serve them intelligence that helps them spend more time with clients.

“We want to be the efficiency and creative back office. There are only 24 hours in the day.”

It’s a reminder that AI’s real value in financial services marketing is not novelty - it’s operational leverage.

What Inspires Her: Team, Family, and the Arts

For Joan, inspiration begins with people. She is quick to credit her team - their talent, their collaboration, and the way they elevate one another - as well as the family and colleagues who shape her perspective and keep her grounded.

“I would be remiss if I didn’t say I have a wonderful team… and how they work together is remarkable.”

Beyond that foundation, she turns to the arts for creative renewal. Opera, museums, theatre, film - these are the places where she steps out of the intensity of daily life and reconnects with story, emotion, and culture. Travel plays the same role, offering glimpses into how people live, think, and express themselves.

It’s a fitting source of inspiration for a marketer who has spent her career helping organisations articulate who they are and what they stand for.

Brand as Truth, Culture as Strategy

Joan Khoury’s story is a reminder that brand work is ultimately human work - rooted in culture, clarity, and the courage to tell the truth about who you are. Her leadership at Oppenheimer shows how a firm can honour its heritage, embrace its future, and bring its people with it. In an industry defined by complexity and constant change, she makes the case for something simple and enduring: brands grow strongest when they are built from the inside out.