Steward Partners picks up $170M team in Florida from Hightower

It's the first team to join the firm’s RIA-only IAR offering.

A $170 million advisor team has joined Steward Partners Global Advisory to open an office in Sarasota, Florida.

Sunshine Private Wealth is led by Faiza Kedir, CFP, and was previously with Hightower where Kedir was director, business development, and financial advisor, having started her FA career at the firm having previously spent 22 years at Bank of America as a branch manager.

“I had been looking around the industry and conducting due diligence for the last few years before deciding to join Steward Partners, and no one else had an offering that was even close. I was looking for the opportunity to partner with a firm that is focused on the future,” explained Kedir. “With Steward, I will have the opportunity to offer fiduciary advice to my clients, while also allowing me to maximize the growth potential of my business and build a larger team.”

RIA-ONLY OFFERING

Steward Partners was founded ten years ago and has seen fast growth of its full-service, employee-owned, independent financial services business offering wealth management solutions for families, businesses, and multigenerational investors.

The new office is the firm’s third in Florida.

“We are very excited to have Faiza as our newest partner and the first to choose our RIA-only, IAR offering, which we think is the gateway to the next chapter of Steward’s growth story,” explained Jeffrey Gonyo, managing director, senior divisional president, Southeast at Steward Partners. “We believe adding the investment advisory representative or “RIA-only” option to our total offering will make Steward even more attractive to independent advisors like Faiza because it offers regulatory, compliance, and operational support. With Steward, advisors not only continue to own their book of business but also are equity partners in the overall enterprise.”