32nd annual FCS Portfolio Awards

Cboe Global Markets scores top prize for “Life is Better With Options” Integrated Marketing Campaign along with Best in Show Consumer

Bank of America dominates the competition with 28 trophies including 2 Best in Show awards for Corporate Image and Employee Communications

Nuveen, Esquire Bank, and UNFCU also nab Best in Show trophies

On May 7, an audience of over 600 financial marketing, communications and media professionals from 140 companies gathered at the Ziegfeld Ballroom for the 32nd Annual FCS Portfolio Awards. At the black tie gala, we also celebrated the five newest graduates of our Marketing Scholars program, and announced total charitable donations to 29 children’s charities over the past 12 months of $194,000.

From among the 246 award winning entries, the top prize, the Judges’ Choice Award, was won by Cboe Global Markets for its “Life is Better With Options” Integrated Marketing Campaign, created with agency partner tms. The campaign was selected by consensus from among the judging panel of 44 industry experts who each nominated their favorite from over 600 entries from a record 142 companies.

The “Best in Show” trophies* were won by:

BEST IN SHOW CONSUMER

• Cboe Global Markets
• tms
• Integrated Marketing
• “Life is Better With Options”

BEST IN SHOW BUSINESS TO BUSINESS

• Nuveen
• 72andSunny
• New Visual Identity 2025

BEST IN SHOW CORPORATE IMAGE

• Bank of America
• GroupeConnect
• Media Strategy
• “Bank of America x The Masters + Augusta National Women’s Amateur Tournaments 2025 – Media Strategy”

BEST IN SHOW CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

• Esquire Bank
• Park & Battery
• Integrated Marketing
• “Champions of Social Justice”

BEST IN SHOW DIVERSITY, EQUITY & INCLUSION

• United Nations Federal Credit Union
• Barkas
• Integrated Marketing
• “For (y)our future”

BEST IN SHOW EMPLOYEE COMMUNICATIONS

• Bank of America
• GroupeConnect
• Recruiting Campaign
• Grow at Bank of America

Bank of America also won an additional 3 Gold trophies among a total haul of 27. Other big winners were Barclays (12 trophies, 3 Gold) and Prudential, along with PGIM (15 trophies combined, including 6 Gold). Notably, 4 Golds were won by BNY Wealth, Nuveen, and Cboe. In all, 46 firms won multiple trophies, while 44 others received one each.

Winners are invited to download the above digital badges for use in their internal and external communications. (Just right click the image and Save Image As.)

Full list of this year’s winners by category can be viewed here: FCS Portfolio 32 Winners.
This document includes the 16 trophies presented at the May 19 Portfolio Employee Communications Awards Reception.

Winners are welcome to order additional copies of their trophies. Download the order form

This year’s line-up of executive award presenters will include:

• Greg Boosin, Chief Marketing Officer, Equitable
• Megan Goett, SVP, Chief Marketing Officer, Cboe Global Markets
• Julie Collins, Executive Director, Global Head of Marketing Distribution, Morgan Stanley
• Kathy Kavanaugh, CMO, SVP Brand and Individual Solutions Marketing, Lincoln Financial
• Ken Poliziani, Global, Chief Marketing Officer, PGIM
• Micky Onvural, Chief Marketing & Communications Officer, TIAA

Our sponsors included:

• Gold: Cvent | Goldcast
• Silver: Fundamental Media, Mizuho
• Bronze: Reuters, State Street Investment Management | McCann
• Judges’ Choice Award: The New York Times
• Cocktail Reception: LinkedIn
• Dinner: Front Office Sports
• Espresso Martini Bar Sponsor: Integreon

And branded table sponsors:

AllianceBernstein, Ameriprise/Columbia Threadneedle, Arbor, Bank of America/GroupeConnect, Barclays, BlackRock, Bloomberg, BNY Wealth, Business Insider, Cambridge Investment Research, Cboe, CFP Board, Citizens /Full Contact, Crowd Street, Equitable, Financial Times, Forbes, FOX Business, Future Standard, Future/SmartBrief, Getty Images, Goldman Sachs, Havas, Invesco, Lincoln Financial, Living Group, M&T Bank/Wilmington Trust, Moody’s, Morgan Stanley, Nasdaq, Nuveen, Omnicom, Park & Battery/Esquire Bank, People Inc., Prosek/Prophecy, Prudential/ McCann, Ptarmigan Media, Ricciardi, Sullivan, TIAA, Travelers, United Nations Federal Credit Union, Wall Street Journal | Barron’s Group, and Yahoo Ads.

The Portfolio Awards competition recognizes creative excellence in marketing communications work, with Gold, Silver and Bronze trophies awarded in the fields of Advertising, Branding, Collateral, Digital Media, Events, External Communications, Integrated Marketing, Media Strategy, Public Relations, Branded Content with Media Partner, and Employee Communications.. Entries were received from financial services providers, including investment firms, credit card companies, investment banks, brokerages and exchanges, insurance companies, mutual funds, ETFs, hedge funds, accounting firms, clearing corporations and commercial banks. Competing separately for Portfolio Awards are “Financial Industry” participants, including agencies, media companies, and resource partners dedicated to financial services.

* Best in Show trophies are awarded based on the highest average scores of the FCS Portfolio Awards judging panel. This year’s panel comprised 44 senior executives from financial firms and communications agencies. (See list of judges below.)

Here is the list of companies that won trophies at the Gala this year:

IMPORTANT NOTE: The finalists in the Employee Communications group were honored at an Awards Celebration on May 19, 2026, at the New York Yacht Club. Here are the 13 companies that won trophies at that Reception:

• AllianceBernstein
• Ally Financial
• Bank of America
• Barclays
• BlackRock
• BNY
• Citadel and Citadel Securities
• CME Group
• Janney
• Mizuho Americas
• Morgan Stanley
• Prudential
• Travelers

To read a recap of that Awards Reception, please visit the event webpage.

For more information regarding any aspect of Portfolio, please contact this year’s committee co-chairs, Katy Brady and Katie Weber, or Kevin Windorf.