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CHRISTOPHER MICHAEL TRAINOR

CHRISTOPHER M. TRAINOR

WEALTH ENHANCEMENT ADVISORY SERVICES | Vice President, Financial Advisor
ISELIN, NJ 08830
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CRD#: 2715563
CHRISTOPHER MICHAEL TRAINOR

Professional summary


CHRISTOPHER MICHAEL TRAINOR, CFP®, who also goes by Chris Trainor, is a registered financial advisor currently at WEALTH ENHANCEMENT ADVISORY SERVICES, LLC located in Iselin, New Jersey and WEALTH ENHANCEMENT BROKERAGE SERVICES, LLC located in Iselin, New Jersey.

CHRISTOPHER is registered as an IAR (Investment Advisor Representative) and RR (Registered Representative) and started their career in finance in 1999. CHRISTOPHER has worked at 9 firms and has passed the Series 63, Series 66, SIE and Series 7 exams.

Biography


Christopher graduated Seton Hall University with a BA in Social and Behavioral Sciences, with minors in Social Work and Political Science. He completed the Financial Planning certificate program at Fairley Dickinson University and earned the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ certification. Chris joined Wealth Enhancement Group in 2022 through its merger with Burke Financial Strategies. For over 25 years, he has been advising clients and other advisors on ways to address risks to the financial well-being of clients. In addition to acting as a financial advisor, Christopher has served as Director of Financial Planning for a nationally-recognized life insurance company and an Assistant Vice-President of Retirement Plans at a global wealth management firm. Chris lives in Clinton Township, New Jersey with his wife, Deirdre, and his son. He is a parishioner at Immaculate Conception Church in Annandale, New Jersey. Chris enjoys singing and playing guitar and piano and is very interested in Irish traditional folk music and the history that inspired it.
top-8-questions

Question & Answer


What are your service offerings?
Comprehensive Financial Planni...
Investment Planning
Retirement Planning
Insurance Planning
Retirement Income Management
Education Planning
What is your minimum asset requirement?
500K
Are you a "fiduciary"?
Yes

Aliases


Chris Trainor

Other business activities


Outside business activity is any business or activity undertaken by an advisor that is outside the scope of their relationship with their firm (e.g., consulting services, real estate, freelance work, teaching, etc.). Investors should stay informed about these activities to ensure no conflicts of interest.
1) 12/2022 - WELLINGTON KNOLLS PROPERTY OWNERS CORPORATION / Non-Profit Board Member / Not Investment Related / 1 Hours per month / 1 time spent percent / 0 Hours during trading / Lebanon, NJ 2) 01/2023 - WEALTH ENHANCEMENT ADVISORY SERVICES, LLC - Investment Related - At Reported Business Location(s) - Registered Investment Advisor Hybrid - Start Date: 01/01/2023 - Various Hours Per Month - I provide investment advisory services through WEALTH ENHANCEMENT ADVISORY SERVICES LLC, an independent investment advisor firm. Please see the advisory firm's Form ADV for more information about its address, the nature of its business, its owners, and its services at http://www.adviserinfo.sec.gov/IAPD.

Blog Corner


CRS (Client Relationship Summary) - RIA


WEALTH ENHANCEMENT ADVISORY SERVICES, LLC - Registered Investment Advisory firm

Version Date: Wed Sep 01 2021

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services, LLC is an investment adviser registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Investment advisers and broker-dealers offer different services under differing compensation structures and it is important for retail investors like you to understand the difference between these two distinct offerings. Educational materials about broker-dealers, investment advisers, and investing in general are available, along with free and simple tools to research firms and financial professionals, at https://www.investor.gov/CRS.

Types of Services Offered:

We offer investment advisory services to retail investors like you. We provide advice on a continuing basis and discuss your investment goals, design with you a strategy to help you achieve your investment goals, and regularly monitor your account.

Principal Services: The principal investment advisory services we offer are:

  • Financial Planning and Consulting. Financial planning and consulting can take a number of forms, but generally involves helping you set long-term financial goals and recommending actions designed to help you achieve them. Financial planning does not involve the active management of your account.

  • Asset Management. Our asset management services generally involve providing you with ongoing supervision over your investment accounts and managing your holistic portfolio based on your individual client profile.

  • Third-Party Money Managers. We also make available certain third-party money managers (including our affiliate NorthCrest Asset Management, LLC) who continually monitor and execute transactions within your account. We monitor the performance of third-party managers selected to manage all or a portion of your account.

Monitoring: All of our investment advisory services, except for financial planning services, include continual monitoring of client accounts by your investment adviser representative, a third- party money manager, or us. Unless your financial planning agreement with us specifically includes monitoring, financial planning services are provided on a transactional basis and are not monitored or updated.

Investment Authority: You may grant us discretionary trading authority to manage your account through our Master Services Agreement. This means that you grant our portfolio managers the authority to determine, on your behalf, which securities to buy or sell and when to execute transactions as well as in some circumstances to select third-party money managers (including our affiliate NorthCrest Asset Management, LLC). In certain situations we also provide non-discretionary investment management advice.

Limitations of Investment Offerings: Certain investment programs we offer have a limited menu of investment options available in which clients may invest.

Account Minimums and Other Requirements: We offer a variety of investment programs to help us meet the unique investment profiles of each of our clients. We generally require a minimum account size of $25,000 to establish a relationship, but certain investment programs we offer have higher minimum account size requirements.


Questions to ask your Professional:
  • Given my financial situation, should I choose an investment advisory service? Why or why not?
  • How will you choose investments to recommend to me?
  • What is your relevant experience, including your licenses, education and other qualifications? What do these qualifications mean?

Principal Fees and Costs. We offer financial planning and consulting services on an hourly or flat-fee basis. The other services we offer generally involve us directly or indirectly managing your investment portfolio for a fee based on a percentage of the assets under management. Our fees are generally negotiable and can vary based on factors such as the expected complexity of strategies to be pursued, the type of account to be managed, and the types of securities available to recommend or purchase.

Because our fee is based on the amount of assets we manage, the more assets a retail client places under our management, the more the client will pay in fees. Therefore, we have an incentive to encourage retail clients to increase the amount of assets in their accounts.

Other Fees and Costs. In addition to the fee you pay us for the services we provide, you are also responsible for other fees and costs (discussed below) incurred in connection with the management of your account and when implementing transactions recommended under a financial planning or consulting relationship, such as, for example, transaction costs and brokerage or custodial fees. Certain investment products, such as mutual funds and exchange-traded funds, charge ongoing fees to cover their internal operating costs, including portfolio management fees, legal and accounting services, and marketing expenses. You will pay fees and costs whether you make or lose money on your investments. Fees and costs will reduce any amount of money you make on your investments over time. Please make sure you understand what fees and costs you are paying.

Under our wrap program, the asset-based fee you pay covers both the investment management services and most transaction costs and fees and therefore is generally higher than a typical asset-based advisory fee. In cases where we pay for transaction costs individually, we face a conflict of interest with you because we have an incentive to minimize the transactions within your account.


Questions to ask your Professional:
  • Help me understand how these fees and costs might affect my investments. If I give you $10,000 to invest, how much will go to fees and costs, and how much will be invested for me?

When we act as your investment adviser, we have to act in your best interest and not put our interest ahead of yours. At the same time, the way we make money creates some conflicts with your interests. You should understand and ask us about these conflicts because they can affect the investment advice we provide you.

For example, some of our investment adviser representatives are also registered representatives of an unaffiliated broker- dealer or licensed insurance salespersons (or both). When these representatives prepare a financial plan for you, they have an incentive to recommend commission-paying products and subsequently offer to help implement the plan by serving in their capacity as a broker-dealer representative or insurance agent (and not as a representative of ours). We face a conflict in recommending the services of our affiliate NorthCrest Asset Management, LLC because we will indirectly benefit financially if you use its services and because some of our investment adviser representatives receive a referral fee for referring clients to that affiliate. Although these conflicts exist, we attempt to mitigate their effect by notifying you that they exist and confirming that you are under no obligation or expectation to implement any plan recommended by or through us through your representative in the representative’s separate capacity as a registered representative of a broker-dealer or to utilize the services of NorthCrest Asset Management, LLC.


Questions to ask your Professional:
  • How might your conflicts of interest affect me, and how will you address them?

Your financial professional receives a portion of the fees you pay us for financial planning, consulting, or asset management services. Therefore, if you pay asset-based fees, our financial professionals have an incentive to recommend that you increase your assets under management with us because it will increase their compensation. Additional conflicts may exist, such as the example noted above about representatives also serving as insurance salespersons or registered representatives of a brokerdealer. You are encouraged to discuss these and any other potential conflicts with your representative.

Certified licenses


Advisors may have various certifications and credentials from different organizations. AdvisorCheck highlights these seven certifications - AIF®, CFP®, ChFC®, CFA, CLU®, CIMA®, CPWA®
CFP®

Start date: 2004

Experience


Current

January 3, 2023 - Present

WEALTH ENHANCEMENT ADVISORY SERVICES, LLC

Office #1: 101 Wood Ave S 6th Floor, Iselin, NJ 08830
RIA
CRD#: 116407
ISELIN, NJ
Current

March 7, 2023 - Present

WEALTH ENHANCEMENT BROKERAGE SERVICES, LLC

Office #1: 101 Wood Ave S 6th Floor, Iselin, NJ 08830
BD
CRD#: 130139
ISELIN, NJ
Past

January 3, 2023 - June 30, 2025

LPL FINANCIAL LLC

BD
CRD#: 6413
ISELIN, NJ
Past

October 22, 2014 - December 31, 2022

RAYMOND JAMES FINANCIAL SERVICES ADVISORS, INC

RIA
CRD#: 149018
Iselin, NJ
Past

October 8, 2014 - December 31, 2022

RAYMOND JAMES FINANCIAL SERVICES, INC.

BD
CRD#: 6694
ISELIN, NJ
Past

November 30, 2010 - October 3, 2011

EAGLE STRATEGIES LLC

RIA
CRD#: 110826
NEW YORK, NY
Past

May 20, 2008 - October 3, 2011

NYLIFE SECURITIES LLC

BD
CRD#: 5167
NEW YORK, NY
Past

March 23, 2005 - May 14, 2008

NEW ENGLAND SECURITIES

RIA
CRD#: 615
SOMERVILLE, NJ
Past

March 16, 2005 - May 14, 2008

NEW ENGLAND SECURITIES

BD
CRD#: 615
SOMERVILLE, NJ
Past

June 3, 2002 - March 11, 2005

UBS FINANCIAL SERVICES INC.

RIA
CRD#: 8174
WEEHAWKEN, NJ
Past

November 5, 1999 - March 11, 2005

UBS FINANCIAL SERVICES INC.

BD
CRD#: 8174
WEEHAWKEN, NJ

Primary Firm SEC Registration


This SEC-registered firm can serve clients nationwide. Some states may require the firm to submit a notice filing if the firm has more than 5 clients or a physical office there. You can view these state-level filings under the section titled "State Registrations and Notice Filings".
WE
WEALTH ENHANCEMENT ADVISORY SERVICES, LLC
WEALTH ENHANCEMENT | WEALTH ENHANCEMENT GROUP, LLC | WEALTH ENHANCEMENT ADVISORY SERVICES, LLC

CRD#: 116407 / SEC#: 801-60749

RIA
Registered Investment Advisory firm - (12/21/2001 Approved)

State Registrations and Notice Filings


Listed states reflect where the advisor is authorized to serve clients under state regulations.

IAR
means the advisor is registered as an Investment Advisor Representative in this state and is authorized to provide investment advice to clients there.
RR
indicates the advisor is registered as a Registered Representative in this state, allowing them to offer securities such as stocks, bonds, and mutual funds through a broker-dealer.

Visual representation of state registrations

RR
Arizona
(6/30/2025)
RR
California
(6/30/2025)
RR
Colorado
(6/30/2025)
RR
Connecticut
(6/30/2025)
RR
District of Columbia
(6/30/2025)
RR
Florida
(6/23/2025)
RR
Georgia
(6/30/2025)
RR
Illinois
(6/30/2025)
RR
Maryland
(6/30/2025)
RR
Massachusetts
(6/30/2025)
RR
Minnesota
(6/30/2025)
RR
Missouri
(6/30/2025)
RR
New Hampshire
(6/30/2025)
IAR
New Jersey
(1/4/2023)
RR
New Jersey
(6/30/2025)
RR
New York
(6/30/2025)
RR
Ohio
(6/30/2025)
RR
Pennsylvania
(6/30/2025)
IAR
Texas
(1/3/2023)
RR
Vermont
(6/30/2025)
RR
Virginia
(6/30/2025)
RR
Wisconsin
(6/30/2025)

Exams


State Security Law Exam
RR
Series 63
Date: 10/16/2014
Uniform Securities Agent State Law Examination
State Security Law Exam
RR
IAR
Series 66
Date: 2/28/2000
Uniform Combined State Law Examination
General Industry/Product Exam
General Industry/Product Exam
SRO Registrations
RR
FINRA

Current Firm


WE
WEALTH ENHANCEMENT ADVISORY SERVICES, LLC
WEALTH ENHANCEMENT | WEALTH ENHANCEMENT GROUP, LLC | WEALTH ENHANCEMENT ADVISORY SERVICES, LLC

CRD#: 116407 / SEC#: 801-60749

RIA
Registered Investment Advisory firm - (12/21/2001 Approved)
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Contact information


Main Address
505 N Highway 169 Suite 900, Plymouth, MN 55441
Mailing Address
Phone number
(763) 417-1700
Established
Firm type
Fiscal year end
# of Employees
1,230

SEC notice filing (51 States and Territories)


Blank US states mapAlaskaHawaiiAlabamaArkansasArizonaCaliforniaColoradoConnecticutDelawareFloridaGeorgiaIowaIdahoIllinoisIndianaKansasKentuckyLouisianaMassachusettsMarylandMaineMichiganMinnesotaMissouriMississippiMontanaNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaNebraskaNew HampshireNew JerseyNew MexicoNevadaNew YorkOhioOklahomaOregonPennsylvaniaRhode IslandSouth CarolinaSouth DakotaTennesseeTexasUtahVirginiaVermontWisconsinWest VirginiaWyoming

Documents


Customer Relationship Summary (CRS / SEC)Latest Form ADV

Part 2 Brochures

WEAS ADV PART 2A APPENDIX 1 (10/13/2025)

Regulatory assets under management


Total Number of Accounts186,400
AUM (Assets Under Management)$ 94,632,028,506

Accountant surprise examination report


Filing DateForm ADV-E CoverForm ADV-E Report
12/20/2024
Cover Page
03/05/2024
09/26/2023

Red Flags


Disclosures can be potential red flags, including customer disputes, regulatory fines, employer terminations, bankruptcies, judgments, liens, or certain criminal activities.

Check for any disclosures as part of your thorough research when choosing an advisor.

Company Information


WEALTH ENHANCEMENT ADVISORY SERVICES, LLC

Vice President, Financial AdvisorCRD#: 116407Iselin, NJ 08830

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