Wells Fargo Drops from Forbes Best-Advisor Lists
Wells Fargo Advisors has suspended its participation in Forbes advisor rankings and conferences, according to a memo sent to the firm’s financial advisors on Tuesday. This follows Morgan Stanley’s announcement that it pulled out of the rankings last week.
The move comes after news reported by The New York Times last week that Randall Lane, a top editor at Forbes, was fired over an undisclosed $6 million payment he received from RJ Shook, the founder of Shook Research. Shook has partnered with Forbes for the past decade on various wealth advisor lists, including its “Best-In-State Wealth Management Teams” and “Top Next-Gen Wealth Advisors.”
“We know many advisors have earned Forbes | Shook Research recognition and used them to highlight commitment to clients, celebrate professional achievements, and support marketing efforts,” said James Craven, head of national sales, in the memo to advisors. “While we are pausing participation in these programs, our commitment to recognizing advisor excellence remains unchanged. We will continue to participate in other industry recognition programs.”
Craven went on to say that the firm will share more information with advisors who have been on Forbes’ rankings regarding the use of marketing materials.
J.P. Morgan Wealth Management declined to comment on the Forbes list through a spokesperson.
Additional reporting by Alex Ortolani.
(Disclosure: Wealth Management creates an in-house annual list, the RIA Edge 100, based exclusively on research and metrics compiled with publicly available data in a firm’s Form ADV. There is no business relationship with firms on the RIA Edge 100.)
