Christopher Krell, CFP® is a Senior Partner at Cassaday & Company, Inc. and has been with the firm since 1997. Christopher personally assists his clients by carefully listening to their needs, engaging them in insightful dialogue, and educating them about their financial situations. By embracing a model of integrated wealth management, Christopher guides his clients through the complexities of personal finance—including investments, estate planning, taxes, cash flow generation, insurance, and more—to create truly comprehensive and well thought-out financial plans. He has established himself as a dedicated financial planner for professionals and small businesses and specializes in multigenerational counseling and cash flow generation. Christopher offers a boutique feel to his clients, aiming to provide such excellent service that each client feels as if they are his only client. By limiting the number of clients that he serves, he is able to focus on achieving a deeper level of financial counseling. Serving as the center of gravity for his clients, he leads wealth summits with their other dedicated financial professionals including estate planners, insurance agents, accountants, and various attorneys to address all areas of personal finance so that his clients can take advantage of every available opportunity. Currently, Christopher’s minimum account size that he oversees for his clients is $1,000,000.

“If the client has a question that involves a dollar sign, then I like to be able to counsel them with their options and help them make informed, educated decisions,” Christopher says. “Moreover, I make sure that all of these areas are properly dovetailed with one another as if it were a case study out of a financial planning textbook.”

Christopher has provided commentary to numerous media outlets, such as the New York Times, Boston Globe, The Washington Post, The Washington Times, Bankrate.com, and Viva Tysons Magazine. He also had his own column, “Money Matters”, in the Loudoun Times Mirror.

Christopher is a senior member of Cassaday & Company, Inc.’s Investment Policy Committee (IPC), which develops the firm’s overall investment selections and policies. He assists with collaboratively reviewing our clients’ holdings and asset allocations, market conditions, research studies, economic analyses, and other areas relevant to the investment process.

Christopher is a graduate of the Pamplin College of Business School at Virginia Polytechnic and State University (Virginia Tech), and is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ (CFP®)*, a professional designation he attained through Georgetown University’s Executive Certificate in Financial Planning program.

Outside of Cassaday & Company, Inc., Christopher provides volunteer financial counseling to low income, elderly individuals in the Northern Virginia area. He is a board member of Character.org, assists with the Special Olympics at Fairfax County Public Schools, and has been the Chairman for the Washington Redskins-Optimist Club’s fundraiser for the benefit of mentally and physically abused children. Additionally, Christopher has been on the board for local chapters of the Optimist Club and Lions Club.

Christopher currently lives in Arlington, Virginia with his wife, Donika, three sons, Jonathan, Benjamin, and Cameron, and adorable dog, Max.

 

Christopher’s Awards & Media Mentions:

Awards

Financial Times – Top 400 Financial Advisors (2020). Click here to view the full list.

Forbes – Best-In-State Wealth Advisors (2020-2023). Click here to view the full list.

Northern Virginia Magazine – Top Financial Professionals (2011 – 2016 and 2018-2023)

REP. Magazine – Top 50 NextGen Independent Advisors (2014 and 2015). Click here to view the full list.

Washingtonian – Top Financial Advisors (2016)

Media Mentions

“The Fear Cocktail”
Financial Advisor Magazine (2011)
Click Here for Article

 

Christopher is an Investment Advisor Representative with Cassaday & Company, Inc. and a Registered Representative with Osaic Wealth, one of the largest independent broker-dealer firms in the country; he holds the Series 7 and Series 66 securities registrations.

*Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. (CFP Board) owns the CFP® certification mark, the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ certification mark, and the CFP® certification mark (with plaque design) logo in the United States, which it authorizes use of by individuals who successfully complete CFP Board’s initial and ongoing certification requirements.

 

Award Disclosures:

Financial Times – (2015) The Financial Times 400 Top Financial Advisors is an independent listing produced annually by the Financial Times. The FT 400 is based on data gathered from advisors, broker-dealer home offices, regulatory disclosures, and the FT’s research. The listing reflects each advisor’s status in six primary areas: assets under management (AUM), asset growth, compliance record, experience, credentials, and online accessibility. This award does not evaluate the quality of services provided to clients and is not indicative of this advisor’s future performance. Neither the brokerages nor the advisors pay a fee to the Financial Times in exchange for inclusion in the FT 400. 

Forbes – Best-In-State Wealth Advisors – (2020-2023) The Forbes ranking of Best-In-State Wealth Advisors, developed by SHOOK Research, is based on an algorithm of qualitative criteria, gained through telephone, virtual and in-person due diligence interviews, and quantitative data. Those advisors that are considered have a minimum of seven years experience, and the algorithm weighs factors like revenue trends, assets under management, compliance records, industry experience and those that encompass best practices in their approach to working with clients. Portfolio performance is not a criterion due to varying client objectives and lack of audited data. Neither Forbes nor SHOOK receive a fee in exchange for rankings. 

Northern Virginia Magazine – (2011-2016, 2018-2023) The Top Financial Professional list is compiled by the Northern Virginia magazine. The magazine sends out nomination forms to Financial Associations in Northern Virginia to nominate professional advisors in the various categories. The “Top Financial Professional” listing is given to those financial advisors that receive the most nominations. Financial professionals do not pay a fee to be included. 

REP. Magazine – (2014-2015) REP. Magazine methodology: Advisors on the Top NextGen Independent Broker/Dealer Advisors list are ranked exclusively by total assets under management. We solicited nominations from the top 30 IBDs by headcount, sourced from Cerulli Associates. These are the firms that responded. REP. magazine and WealthManagement.com do not receive any compensation from financial advisors, participating firms and affiliates, or the media in exchange for rankings. 

Washingtonian – Top Wealth Advisors (2016) The Washingtonian Top Financial Planner is awarded to individuals who are nominated and surveyed by their industry peers as being the best in their field. The advisors select are those who received the most recommendations from their peers. Portfolio performance is not a factor. Cassaday did not compensate Washingtonian for this award. 

To learn more about the professional history of our firm, please visit FINRA’s BrokerCheck.