Independent financial advisors working with clients approaching retirement in Sarasota, FL

Gina Tedesco is a Series 66-credentialed financial advisor with five years of industry experience, currently with NewEdge Advisors. Her prior work includes roles at Equitable Advisors and WR Wealth Planners LLC, as well as entrepreneurial and instructional positions such as an entrepreneurship instructor at the State College of Florida 26 West Entrepreneurship Center. Outside of her advisory work, she co-owns the Women's Power Forum, a professional networking group. NewEdge Advisors is an enterprise-scale registered investment adviser serving a wide range of clients, including individuals, pension plans, corporations, and charitable organizations. The firm offers diversified portfolio management and consulting services through multiple program structures, combining in-house and third-party manager selections with technology-supported client solutions.

Joseph Levine is a financial advisor at Hightower Advisors in Sarasota, FL, holding Series 65 and Series 66 licenses with three years of industry experience. Prior to joining Hightower in 2025, he was involved in the wine industry through ownership roles at Suncoast Wine Cellars LLC and VinoVino LLC. Levine also owns a custom wine cellar business, Bespoke Wine Cellars FL, which is in the process of transitioning to a new owner. Hightower Advisors provides investment advisory and planning services to a diverse group of individual and institutional clients, offering portfolio management, financial planning, and retirement consulting through a multi-manager approach that includes both affiliated and third-party managers.

Nicholas Fiegoli is a financial advisor with Steward Partners Investment Advisory, LLC, holding Series 63 and Series 65 licenses and over 30 years of industry experience. He has worked with firms including UBS Financial Services and Raymond James Financial Services. Outside of his advisory role, he has a personal investment in the Grand Hyatt at Pagent Beach. Steward Partners Investment Advisory, LLC is an SEC-registered enterprise-scale RIA managing approximately $36.7 billion in assets. The firm serves a broad client base including individuals, pension plans, corporations, and charitable organizations, offering a range of portfolio management and financial planning services.

Keith Whitt is a financial advisor with Investment Advisory Group LLC, holding a Series 66 designation and 16 years of industry experience. He has worked at Investment Advisory Group since 2018 and has been with Maritime Wealth Advisors LLC since 2011. Prior to that, he was employed at Geneos Wealth Management, Inc. from 2006 to 2018. Investment Advisory Group LLC manages approximately $1.2 billion in assets for individuals, high net worth clients, trusts, estates, and charitable organizations. The firm employs a five-advisor team and uses a disciplined investment approach based on Modern Portfolio Theory, the Fama-French three-factor model, and behavioral finance, primarily utilizing diversified portfolios of mutual funds, ETFs, and fixed income securities.

Erik Fischer is a financial advisor with MassMutual Investors Services in Sarasota, FL, holding a Series 66 designation and 11 years of industry experience. His career includes multiple roles within MassMutual and affiliated firms since 2015. He serves on the boards of two charitable organizations, Round of a Lifetime and A Kid’s Place, where he contributes to leadership and financial oversight. MassMutual Investors Services operates as a broker-dealer and SEC-registered investment adviser, providing comprehensive financial planning and asset management services to individuals, business owners, trusts, estates, charitable organizations, and employers.

Willie Myles is a financial advisor with Equitable Advisors in Cary, NC, holding Series 63 and Series 66 licenses and bringing 16 years of industry experience. He has worked at Equitable Advisors since 2016, previously serving at Axa Advisors and MSI Financial Services. Outside of advising, he is a co-chairman of a fundraising campaign for Alpha Light Fund Inc., a nonprofit focused on renovating the House of Alpha. Equitable Advisors serves a range of clients including individuals, pension plans, corporations, and charitable organizations, providing financial planning, retirement consulting, and asset management through a network of representatives and third-party managers. The firm offers various investment vehicles and ERISA fiduciary services, relying on third-party program sponsors and an affiliation with a publicly traded parent company.

Stavroula Koutsfetsoulis is a financial advisor at Ameriprise with 25 years of industry experience. She holds Series 63 and Series 65 licenses and has been with Ameriprise and its affiliated entities since 2011. In addition to her advisory role, she is involved in fiduciary activities as an attorney-in-fact (power of attorney). Ameriprise is a large institutional firm that provides retirement-income planning services primarily to individuals with substantial investable assets. The firm combines research, modeling, and tax-efficiency analysis to deliver written recommendation reports through a centralized consulting team, focusing on tailored retirement income strategies.

Barbara Brewer is a financial advisor at RBC Capital Markets with 20 years of industry experience. She holds a Series 66 designation and has been with RBC Capital Markets Corporation since 2008. RBC Wealth Management, a division of RBC Capital Markets, serves individual investors, institutional clients, pension and profit-sharing plans, corporations, and charitable organizations. The firm offers various advisory programs with discretionary and non-discretionary portfolio management, financial planning, custody, and brokerage services, tailoring strategies to clients’ Advisory Risk Profiles through a mix of in-house and third-party providers.

Richard Martin is a financial advisor at Cetera with 29 years of industry experience. He holds a Series 63 designation and has a background that includes nearly three decades at Avantax Advisory Services and eight years at Avantax Insurance Agency. Outside of his advisory work, he is the owner and sole proprietor of Martin & Pellegrin, CPAs, a tax preparation and accounting firm. Cetera Investment Advisers LLC is an SEC-registered firm that serves a broad client base including individuals, retirement plans, corporate and charitable clients, and institutional accounts. The firm provides a multi-manager platform offering discretionary and non-discretionary portfolio management, financial planning, and access to various program structures and third-party money managers.

Lee Chen is a financial advisor with UBS Financial Services in Pasadena, California, holding Series 63 and Series 65 licenses and bringing 28 years of industry experience. He has been with UBS since 2009. Outside of his advisory role, Chen serves on the board of directors for the San Gabriel Country Club. UBS Financial Services serves individual, corporate, and institutional clients through brokerage and investment advisory offerings, combining proprietary capital market research with a broad range of financial planning and portfolio management solutions.

Jared Fruth is a financial advisor at Northwest Asset Management with four years of industry experience. He holds a Series 65 designation and previously worked at Securities America, Inc., KMS Financial Services, Inc., Oppenheimer Funds, and John Paul Mitchell Systems. Northwest Asset Management is a registered investment adviser managing approximately $3.6 billion for nearly 3,000 clients, including individuals, pension and profit-sharing plans, charities, and corporations. The firm employs a customized, fiduciary approach using Modern Portfolio Theory and strategic asset allocation, combining fundamental and technical analysis to build diversified portfolios with periodic rebalancing.

Edwina Martin is a Series 65 licensed financial advisor with two years of industry experience, currently with Waverly Advisors, LLC. She previously worked at 9258 Wealth Management for five years and was employed at Teradata Corp for eleven years. Martin also serves as assistant director of tax planning at 9258 Tax and Planning, a non-investment related business. Waverly Advisors is a multi-team registered investment adviser managing portfolios for individuals, retirement plans, and pooled investment vehicles. The firm combines traditional equity and fixed-income strategies with alternative and private-market allocations, offering a range of investment management and financial planning services.

Craig Mcdaniel Jr. is a financial advisor with Capital Investment Advisory Services, LLC in Columbia, SC. He holds Series 63 and Series 65 licenses and has 13 years of industry experience. He has been with Capital Investment Group, Inc. and The McDaniel Corporation since 2012. Outside of his advisory role, he is involved in life insurance sales and serves as an independent agent for annuities and related products. Capital Investment Advisory Services, LLC provides investment advisory and supervisory services to individuals, retirement plans, corporations, trusts, estates, and charitable organizations. The firm offers customized investment management through discretionary mandates, third-party managers, and private-label model portfolios, using a blend of analytical methods with ongoing portfolio monitoring.

David Hart is a financial advisor with Martin Wealth Management, LLC in Irvine, CA. He holds a Series 65 credential and has 15 years of industry experience. Hart previously worked with Safeguard Investment Advisory Group and LifePro Asset Management. He is also a Certified Financial Fiduciary and volunteers as an instructor with the Foundation for Fiduciary Education, providing unbiased fiduciary financial education to the public. Martin Wealth Management offers investment advisory services primarily to individuals and high-net-worth clients by co-advising and directing accounts to a third-party money manager, Matson Money. The firm focuses on client onboarding, documentation, and ongoing review of third-party manager accounts rather than direct asset management.

Sarah Currier Barrella is a CFP® professional with 26 years of experience in financial advisory services. She currently works at Santander Securities LLC and Santander Bank, NA, having previously held positions at TD Bank and Citizens Securities, Inc. Barrella is based in Boston, MA. Santander Securities LLC serves a broad retail client base with approximately $3.14 billion in regulatory assets under management across 10,800 client relationships. The firm offers investment advisory services, portfolio management through wrap-fee programs, and financial planning, operating both as a registered investment adviser and a FINRA-registered broker-dealer.