Shook by the Forbes-Shook award scandal? Here's how to adjust your marketing

With Forbes and Shook Research canceling their industry rankings and events for the rest of 2026, advisors don't have to worry about any honors they otherwise may have received this year.

But there remains a big question about what to do with all the awards and accolades they received in previous years. For many, those honors have been tainted by revelations that Forbes' former top editor received a $6 million "gift" from the founder of Shook Research, Forbes' outside partner in compiling its widely cited industry rankings.

Randall Lane was removed from his editor-in-chief position after the story of his gift was first reported in the New York Times. Forbes and Shook have since announced that their remaining 2026 awards and events will be canceled.

In response, the marketing consultant April Rudin recommends firms immediately remove any mention of past Forbes awards from their websites and marketing communications.

"I think they should take them down because I think they're forever tarnished by this entire story, especially the fact that it broke in The New York Times, which is a [business to consumer] publication," said Rudin, the founder and CEO of The Rudin Group  "And the story is also just beginning." 

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What do industry awards really tell clients?

Many advisors and firms use industry rankings  — like Forbes' Top Wealth Advisors, Best-In-State Wealth Management Teams and Top RIA firms — as a way to distinguish themselves in the crowded financial-planning industry. So far, no evidence suggests any award recipient ever paid for a place in the rankings.

In a statement Monday, Shook Research founder RJ Shook said the $6 million gift to Lane came in return for "services and guidance [Lane] had provided to me and the success I achieved as a result" and was not "made in connection with Shook Research's rankings or research process." Shook said he plans to restart the business under a new brand in 2027.

Photo by Noam Galai/Getty Images for Global Citizen

The question of whether to drop out of the Forbes rankings this year may now be moot, but Rudin said firms would do well to reconsider how they use other Forbes awards in their advertising and other public statements. Even before the scandal, she questioned whether the rankings mattered to clients. 

To be a Forbes "Top Wealth Advisor," for instance, advisors not only have to sit for interviews, fill out surveys and undergo a background check but also submit "quantitative" data about their assets under management and annual revenue. (Financial Planning mainly uses annual revenue to rank firms in its annual 40 Brokers Under 40 and IBD Elite lists.)

But do investors looking for a financial planner with a certain type of expertise, Rudin asked, really care about a ranking of advisors in a given state with the most assets under management?

"When I glance through LinkedIn, I see everybody's posting this award, that award, this award," she said. "People are very focused on: How many awards can we gather? But I think they have to take a step back and think to themselves: What does it really mean, and how am I really using it?"

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If nothing else, awards give advisors a confidence boost

Ross Gerber, the CEO of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth and Investment Management in Santa Monica, California, said he was about to make a LinkedIn announcement about his firm's advisor's place in the Forbes rankings when the news of the $6 million payment broker. He immediately abandoned the post.

Gerber said he has no plans to revise older marketing and posts by removing any mention of Forbes awards. But the scandal does make him question the value of industry awards, he said.

Publications like Forbes may not make money for giving particular firms awards (there are no allegations of that sort of pay-to-play against Forbes and Shook.) But they do make money after bestowing their honors by charging the recipients for things like licensing — essentially selling them the right to brag in public.

The conflict of interest is obvious, Gerber said.

"They have every incentive to have as many awards as possible and to give as many people awards as possible," he said. "I think that's where it all goes south."

Gerber agreed awards do little to generate business and tend to be most valued by the people who receive them.

"It's nice that people feel good about themselves, that they worked hard and they get an award," he said. "So I think it's more of an ego boost and confidence booster."

For that reason, he said, he's unlikely to eschew awards completely. For firms in places much smaller than the Los Angeles metropolitan area, they may be a good way to stand out from competitors. But so many advisors in L.A. and its environs are on the same lists, the rankings do little to provide distinction, he said.

Gerber recommended firms put their time and money into things like the series of videos Gerber Kawasaki has put on YouTube explaining financial topics to everyday investors.

"This is just the way my firm works, but we've found that clients are watching social media," he said. "So the issue is: Are you putting out content like video content on YouTube that your clients can watch and get value from, and that builds a lot of credibility?"

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The case for client testimonials

Joe Anthony, the CEO and owner of PR firm Gregory, said advisors stand to gain little by removing mentions of Forbes awards from their own websites and social media postings because the honors will still be listed on Forbes' own site and elsewhere.

Gregory

"I think if you're on those lists, you're still going to surface as such," he said. "But I think if you're someone holding yourself out as, 'We're an award winning RIA firm,' then maybe you don't want to lead with that anymore." 

One way to move beyond a reliance on awards is to make more use of testimonials and reviews from current or former clients. Firms have been allowed to use client testimonials ever since a new Securities and Exchange Commission marketing rule took effect in late 2022, yet they remain relatively rare.

That's partly because of the compliance burdens involved. Firms that want to publish testimonials have to seek comments from all current or former clients and then publish all the results, rather than cherry-pick favorable responses.

But industry rankings and awards come with their own costs and regulatory exposures. Firms not only have to fill out extensive surveys and sit for interviews to qualify for an honor; they also can be held to account by regulators if they misrepresent what they've received in marketing communications.

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Sometimes a clear message is all that's needed

Anthony said there's little doubt the Forbes-Shook scandal has many firms asking if there aren't better ways to promote themselves.

"I think what's happened here is that a lot of firms that have not only applied for and got included on these Shook-driven Forbes lists are spending both soft dollars, as in people's time, but also hard dollars promoting and leveraging the recognition," he said. "Now many firms that have big wallets are saying, "Hey, this juice is not worth the squeeze if people think this list is compromised."

Rudin, for her part, said she's skeptical of testimonials. Many times clients say little more than "I like my advisor," which is hardly helpful for someone looking for a financial planner with a certain type of expertise.

She instead recommended firms concentrate on being clear on their website, social media postings and public communications about what makes them distinct.

"More information about the people you might work with, what their processes are," she said. "Being transparent about those things make people understand more about how they work and whether or not they might be a good fit for them. "