Cowen Continues To Build Leading Cross-Asset Team With Four Significant Hires

NEW YORK, Aug. 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Cowen Inc. (NASDAQ:COWN) (“Cowen” or the “Company”) today announced four key additions to the firm’s global Cross-Asset Division. Eric Friel has joined the firm as Managing Director & Head of Credit Strategy, Charles Howard as Managing Director of Cross-Asset Trading and Rob Karen and Pete Siedem both as Directors in Cross-Asset Sales. All will report to Jay McDermott and Burt Welly, Co-Heads of Cowen’s Cross-Asset Division, and Philip Cushman, Head of Global Equity and Cross-Asset Sales.

“As we continue to enhance the suite of services and capabilities our Cross-Asset team can deliver in order to further capitalize on the strong opportunities we see in this space, we’re excited to welcome these great hires to the team,” said Jay McDermott. “Eric, Chuck, Rob and Pete not only bring a depth of industry knowledge around high yield and distressed assets, but also invaluable market relationships that will deliver immediate benefits for our clients and the firm.”

Mr. Friel joins Cowen from UBS Securities Co., Ltd., where he served as Head of High Yield & Distressed Research for four years. Prior to that, he spent 10 years as a Partner at Stone Lion L.P., a hedge fund specializing in distressed assets. He started his career as a Distressed Analyst at Bear Stearns in 2002. Mr. Friel holds a B.A. in Communications from Viginia Tech and an MBA from Washington University in St. Louis.

Mr. Howard joins Cowen from R.W. Pressprich & Co., an institutional fixed-income broker-dealer, where he spent four years as Managing Director, Head of High-Yield and Distressed Fixed Income. Before that, he spent two years as a Managing Director at Seaport Global Holdings LLC and one year at Pali Capital as Managing Director, Head of High-Yield and Leveraged Loans. Previously, he spent just under seven years at RBC Capital Markets where he most recently served as Managing Director, Head of High-Yield Sales and Trading. He received his B.S. in Criminal Justice from University of North Carolina at Charlotte and his MBA from Monmouth University – Leon Hess Business School.

Mr. Karen joins Cowen from Natixis where he spent 11 years, serving most recently as Managing Director in credit sales across various fixed income products. Prior to that, he spent seven years as Managing Director at Bear Stearns where he focused on Leveraged Loan Sales as well as Loan Capital Markets. He also spent time on the Loan Capital Markets teams at Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and Bank of America. Mr. Karen received his B.S. in Business Administration from The State University of New York at Albany and his MBA from Columbia University.

Mr. Siedem joins Cowen from Mizuho Financial Group, where he spent about a year as a High Yield Sales, Managing Director. During the 28 years prior, most recently, he held Managing Director, High Yield Credit Sales positions at Imperial Capital LLC and Nomura Securities LLC. Prior to that, Mr, Siedem was a Managing Director in the High Yield Sales and Trading group at J.P. Morgan from 2001 until 2016. Mr. Siedem also held officer positions at Lehman Brothers LLC and Lazard Frerers and Co., LLC, where he began his career in 1992. Siedem received his B.A. in Economics from Rollins College.

About Cowen Inc. 
Cowen Inc. (“Cowen” or the “Company”) is a diversified financial services firm that provides investment banking, research, sales and trading, prime brokerage, outsourced trading and commission management services. Cowen also has an investment management division which offers actively managed alternative investment products. Founded in 1918, the Company is headquartered in New York and has offices worldwide. Learn more at Cowen.com

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Source: Cowen Inc.