Draft:R.J. Shook

R.J. Shook is an American author and researcher who has spent decades studying and writing about the financial advice business. His company, SHOOK Research, identifies top financial advisors and ranks them nationally for Forbes magazine.

Early life and education
Born in Columbus, Ohio as Robert James, his parents coined the nickname R.J. It stuck. "Since we already had Roberta and Robert in the family, we picked R.J. and that's what everyone has called him since he was born," recalled his father, Robert L. Shook.

R.J. Shook graduated from Bexley High School and attended Babson College, earning a degree in marketing (1987). He took a job on Wall Street at Prudential-Bache Securities (1987-99) as a financial advisor before joining the research department. R.J. began writing books while on Wall Street.

Writing career
R.J. Shook co-authored his first book, "The Wall Street Dictionary," in 1990 with his father, Robert L. Shook, who is a prolific author of more than 50 books. With his dad's advice and encouragement, R.J. Shook began writing a series of books. The series would span two decades.

The first book in the series,"The Winners Circle: How 10 Stockbrokers Became the Best in the Business," was published in 1992 when R.J. was a financial advisor.

The book was topical as the stock market boomed during the 1990s and individuals took a strong interest in stockbrokers. "Having a stockbroker today is more common than was having a psychiatrist in the 1970s," writes Shook, noting that people were interested in learning about the characteristics of successful advisors.

During the 1990s, clients were charged a commission when a stock or bond was sold. But there was a move underway to offer financial advice and manage assets, charging a management fee instead of a commission on trades.

Entrepreneurship
Using what he learned writing about stockbrokers, R.J. Shook developed a system for ranking of professionals offering financial advice. The rankings were offered to local weeklies and trade publications, which took a strong interest in the concept. These same publications would become a ready source of free publicity for Shook's rankings.

Registered Rep and Research Magazine, was among those that signed on to publish Shook's rankings followed by Barron's, a weekly financial newspaper known for its insightful coverage of Wall Street and investing.

The rankings spurred a series of national conferences that R.J. Shook created in partnership with Barron's. Shook sold the Winners Circle organization to News Corporation in 2008. In 2015, R.J. Shook and his spouse, Elisabeth L. Shook, created SHOOK Research, according to records filed with the state of Florida. Based in Boca Raton, Fla., the company's DNA is similar to the original Winners Circle, scoring advisors based on quantitative and qualitative measures collected during telephone and in-person interviews conducted by SHOOK analysts.

Today, SHOOK Research's rankings are published by Forbes magazine and its companion website, Forbes.com.The rankings now include top women advisors, top teams, top next-gen advisors, financial security professionals who focus on selling insurance, and independent, registered investment advisors.

In 2021, R.J. Shook expanded outside the United States, beginning with Canadian advisors  The Canadian rankings are published by The Globe and Mail newspaper.

Philanthropy
R.J. Shook, who lost his mother, Roberta, to breast cancer when he was 17, made philanthropy a hallmark of his family's and SHOOK Research's core principles. Top advisors ranked by SHOOK attending the company's national conferences are asked to donate money toward SHOOK-sponsored philanthropic campaigns, such as Children's Cancer Research Fund, Make-A-Wish, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and Susan G. Komen for the Cure. In 2010, R.J. Shook created a research and ranking system designed to identify the world's biggest philanthropic givers. The list, which tracks actual gifts instead of pledges to give money, is believed to be the only one of its kind. Forbes publishes SHOOK's philanthropic giver's ranking.

Personal Life
R.J. is married to Elisabeth Guilder Shook. They have three children - Jacob, Jamie and Jeremy. Each of the children is actively involved in SHOOK Research philanthropic campaigns and have appeared at SHOOK's national conferences recognizing top advisors.

Books

 * Wall Street Dictionary: The Most Up-To-Date and Authoritative Dictionary of Financial Terms, More Than 5,000 Entries, by R.J. Shook (New York Institute of Finance, 1990) ISBN 0139501894.
 * The Winner's Circle: How Ten Stockbrokers Became the Best in the Business by R.J. Shook & Robert L. Shook (Prentice Hall]] 1992) ISBN 0135875773.
 * Wall Street Dictionary: The Most Up-To-Date and Authoritative Dictionary of Financial Terms by R.J. Shook (Career Press, 1999) ISBN 156414402X.
 * The Winner's Circle ll: How Ten Stockbrokers became the Best in the Business by R.J. Shook (New York Institute of Finance, 1999) ISBN 0131862715.
 * Online Trader's Dictionary: The Most Up-To-Date and Authoritative Compendium of Financial Terms by R.J. Shook (Career Press, 2001) ISBN 1564145670.
 * The Winner's Circle: How 30 Financial Advisors Became the Best in the Business by R.J. Shook (Horizon Publishing Group, 2002) ISBN 0972162208.
 * The Winner's Circle: Wall Street's Best Mutual Fund Managers by R.J. Shook (Wiley, 2004) ISBN 0471679143.
 * The Winner's Circle lV: Wealth Management Insights from America's Best Financial Advisors by R.J. Shook (Horizon Publishing Group, 2005) ISBN 0972162232.
 * The Winner's Circle: Asset Allocation Strategies from America's Best Financial Advisors by R.J. Shook (Horizon Publishing Group, 2006) ISBN 9780972162296.
 * Winner's Circle V: Wealth Management Insights from America's Best Financial Advisory Teams, (Horizon Publishing Group, 2009) ISBN 0972162232.