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What Comms Pros Should Watch Out for in 2025
2025 is shaping up to be a complex and rapidly evolving landscape for the financial services industry. We recently spoke with Venture Capital Journal reporter, David Bogoslaw to get his insight on what trends will take the spotlight this year. With uncertainty in deal activity, ongoing emphasis on financial infrastructure investment, and shifts in AI approach and policy, staying abreast of these trends will be crucial for building effective communication strategies.
Trend 1: M&A and IPO Activity Remains Unpredictable
In 2024, the financial services market saw a slowdown in dealmaking and a dip in IPO activity.
David Bogoslaw at Venture Capital Journal said, “Nobody really expects IPO activity to pick up before the second half of the year, so M&A is really where exits are going to come from [in the first few months].”
IPOs face challenges in an unpredictable environment, and many companies are choosing to stay private longer both because they're still able to raise capital from venture and growth equity investors, and the bar for recurring revenue thresholds keeps being raised. There are also concerns that the Federal Reserve may reverse course on interest rate cuts and about general economic uncertainty. On the M&A front, Bogoslaw notes that larger deals still face uncertainty despite the restrained approach to M&A antitrust enforcement that is anticipated from the new administration.
While there is cautious optimism regarding consolidation, Bogoslaw believes confidence will remain in smaller scale transactions where there is less concern over competition and consumer impact.
Public relations advisors can help guide companies through deal communication strategies in an unpredictable market.
Trend 2: Financial Infrastructure Investment On the Rise
One area of financial services that will see continued investment is financial infrastructure, especially tools like banking-as-a-service (BaaS), payments platforms, and fraud identification. As consumer protection is a growing concern, venture capitalists are turning their attention to companies with solutions that help institutions run more efficiently, reduce friction in transactions, and secure data.
With Stripe’s recent $1.1B acquisition of Bridge and PayPal’s expansion of PayPal USD usage for cross-border settlements, stablecoins proved to drive investment in 2024 and will continue to revolutionize financial infrastructure this year.
From our conversation with Bogoslaw, he shared that the rising demand for stablecoins stems from foreign markets, especially developing countries facing challenges of currency instability. While the US may not see significant benefits from stablecoins in the near future, it poses a strong alternative to fiat currencies susceptible to wild inflation swings in emerging nations.
This year, we’ll see continued advancements in financial infrastructure, particularly in foundational blockchain technology, along with sector changes tied to the new administration’s proposed cryptocurrency project. Communicators should keep their finger on the pulse of how these trends evolve with the regulatory landscape, developing narratives that align with the changing transactional demands of its audiences.
Trend 3: AI Stays Center Stage, But Applications and Investor Attitudes Shift
While AI remains a hot topic across all industries, the industry is moving away from heavy investments in foundational AI models and toward more targeted AI applications, with a focus in enterprise technology rather than business-to-consumer.
As the technology progresses, AI is increasingly becoming embedded into various sectors and no longer seen as a standalone vertical. Investors are cautious of AI hype, more closely scrutinizing valuations, and showing more interest in how AI can be applied to solve specific business problems, from streamlining operations to improving decision-making processes. DeepSeek’s recent launch of its low-cost AI chatbot has sent shockwaves throughout the AI space, prompting OpenAI to release o3-mini and even rethink its open source strategy. DeepSeek’s most groundbreaking element is affordability, with training costs lower than any industry peer, and it raises questions around whether investor AI frenzy will continue to stand. AI agents remain top of mind as a game-changing application for customer service automation, fraud detection, and operational optimization, and have garnered widespread attention for ROI potential as a result.
According to Bogoslaw, investors are paying close attention to ensure the excitement around AI is coupled with substantive, quantifiable results. For public relations professionals, understanding shifting AI approaches and prioritizing use cases of AI-driven efficiencies will be essential to highlighting the technology’s benefits despite concerns.
What's Ahead
As we move into 2025, staying ahead of the curve is more important than ever in a dynamic environment subject to regulatory changes and technological advancements. Highwire’s Financial Services practice can help communication teams navigate trends, craft informed messaging, and drive growth in a time of transformation. Reach out today to learn more.
