About the firm
Named for the winds that made the crossing possible.
The trade winds are the steadiest winds on earth, and they are the reason ocean crossings became routine rather than heroic. They still shift. Every crossing is sailed by adjusting: more sail, less sail, a different sail, a change of course. That is the firm in one image.
Why we exist
Built by someone who could not find it to hire.
Christian D'Urso, Founder & Chief Investment Officer, spent years in the independent advisory channel before starting TradeWinds in 2023. The pattern he kept running into: firms that were warm on the planning side and thin on the investing, or rigorous on the investing and transactional about everything else. Very few were serious about both.
He holds a master's degree in physics from the University of Washington, which shows up less in the marketing and more in the method. Strategies are specified before they are run. Rules are written down. Anything that cannot be described precisely enough to test does not make it into a portfolio.
On the planning side, the firm built the Retirement Navigation System so that the same nine questions get asked of every household, and so clients can see for themselves which parts of their plan are solid. Between the two, the promise is narrow and specific: retire with ease, meaning without the constant low hum of not quite knowing.
~$170 million
Assets under management
As of July 2026
~270
Client households
Schwab
Custodian
Assets held in your name
SEC
Registered investment adviser
Fee-only fiduciary
The team
Four people, and you will know all of them.
A firm this size has no account-transfer department to route you to. That is the point.
Christian D'Urso
Series 66Founder & Chief Investment Officer
Bristol, Rhode Island
Christian built the firm he wanted to hire: rigorous about the investing, personal about the planning. He holds a master's degree in physics from the University of Washington and applies that training directly to how TradeWinds constructs portfolios: rules first, then results. He has advised clients since 2007 and founded TradeWinds in 2023. He learned to sail as a kid, which is where the firm's name comes from, and still spends his free time on the water.
You'd meet them for: Investment strategy, portfolio construction, and the research behind both.
Paul Spangler
CFP®, MBA, Series 66Wealth Advisor, Partner
Portland, Oregon
Paul runs firm operations and advises clients. He is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional whose planning work spans retirement income, tax strategy, and estate coordination. He spent a decade in human resources before moving into financial services, which is a useful background when the hardest part of a plan is the conversation rather than the math.
You'd meet them for: Comprehensive planning, retirement income, and coordinating the moving parts.
Brandon Trank
Series 66Wealth Advisor
Portland, Oregon
Brandon leads TradeWinds' work with federal employees. He runs the firm's quarterly educational workshops on federal retirement benefits (the FERS annuity, the Thrift Savings Plan, survivor elections, and the transition out of federal service) and meets one-on-one with federal employees at every career stage.
You'd meet them for: Federal employees. He's who you meet for the 30-minute benefits review.
Chris Brandenburg
Operations Associate
Portland, Oregon
Chris supports firm operations and client service. He spent more than a decade at Ameriprise working with RIAs managing over $1 billion, and brings that operational discipline to the day-to-day work of servicing client accounts.
You'd meet them for: Account servicing, transfers, and getting things done correctly.
How the firm is set up
The structural stuff that actually protects you.
Independence and fee-only compensation are not marketing lines. They change what advice is possible to give.
Fee-only, always
We are paid by our clients. No commissions, no revenue sharing, no compensation from any product provider. Nothing we recommend pays us more than anything else we could have recommended.
Independent, with no proprietary products
We do not manufacture anything we then sell you. The strategies we build are built from broadly available securities and funds.
Assets custodied at Schwab
TradeWinds never holds your money. Charles Schwab does, in accounts in your name, and reports to you directly so you can check our work.
SEC-registered, independently examined
TradeWinds Asset Management, LLC is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission and works with an outside compliance firm. Our Form ADV is public.
Come see whether we fit.
An introductory conversation, no cost and no obligation. Bring the thing that has been nagging at you.