Cowen Group Announces Launch of Ramius Trading Strategies managed Futures Fund

NEW YORK, NY, September 20, 2011 – Cowen Group, Inc. (“Cowen”) (NASDAQ: COWN) today announced the formation of the Ramius Trading Strategies Managed Futures Fund (“The Fund”) (Ticker: RTSIX, RTSRX).  The Fund provides investors access to a portfolio of institutional-caliber managed futures managers in a daily liquidity format utilizing Ramius’ proprietary managed account infrastructure, which allows for position level transparency and enhanced risk analytics. The Fund commenced operations on September 13, 2011, and has approximately $230 million in assets under management as of today’s release.  The Fund is managed by William Marr, President and CEO of Ramius Trading Strategies LLC (“RTS”), and Alexander Rudin, Ph. D., Director of Investment Research of RTS. 

Thomas W. Strauss, President and CEO of Ramius LLC, said, “With Ramius’ second mutual fund offering, we are maintaining our commitment to provide new and diverse liquid alternative products.  These products are designed with the intent of meeting the changing needs of all investors, particularly financial advisors and their clients, many of whom have had limited access to institutional-caliber products in the alternative investment space.  The Ramius Trading Strategies Managed Futures Fund offers investors liquid access to a portfolio of experienced managed futures managers that have been selected through a rigorous due diligence process and trade within a robust managed account structure.”

William Marr said “Institutional investors have been increasing their allocations to managers with expertise within the managed futures world because they have historically provided a good source of diversification. We are pleased to now offer this strategy to mass affluent clients seeking to complement their traditional portfolios with an alternatives product offering low minimums, daily liquidity, and 1099 tax reporting.”

Prior to his role at RTS, Mr. Marr was the Global Head of Hedge Fund Research & Portfolio Construction at Merrill Lynch from 2006 to 2009, where he oversaw more than $25 billion in hedge fund assets. Previously, he was the Global Head of Alternative Investments for Julius Baer Investment Management from 2002 to 2006 after serving as Senior Vice President and Head of FX Trading and Sales at Bank Julius Baer between 1998 and 2001. Mr. Marr has 24 years of industry experience and has been allocating to hedge funds through managed accounts since 1997.

From 2006 to 2009, Mr. Rudin was Senior Investment Analyst for Merrill Lynch, overseeing more than $4.5 billion in Managed Futures assets. He was also a Director of Quantitative Research for Julius Baer Alternative Investments from 2003 – 2006. Mr. Rudin has 13 years of industry experience plus six years of theoretical physics research.

Ramius, through its affiliates, offers its global institutional client base a broad range of alternative investment programs including hedge funds, real estate debt and equity funds, cash management, a fund of managed accounts platform focusing on trading strategies, and a hedge fund investment and advisory solutions business that includes customized and commingled fund of funds, portfolio completion, portfolio hedging, and hedge fund replication services.  Information regarding mutual funds offered by Ramius can be accessed at the following website: www.RamiusMutualFunds.com

RTS was founded in September 2009 and is an affiliate of Cowen Group, Inc. and Ramius Alternative Solutions.  RTS offers multi-manager products investing in experienced independent managers in the managed futures and global macro space.  All RTS products utilize RTS’s managed account platform supported by RTS’s proprietary risk and research systems as well as the operational infrastructure of Ramius.

About Cowen Group, Inc.

Cowen Group, Inc. is a leading diversified financial services firm providing alternative investment management, investment banking, research, and sales and trading services through its business units, Ramius and Cowen and Company. Its alternative investment management products include hedge funds, fund of funds, real estate funds, healthcare royalty funds, cash management and commodity trading funds, offered primarily under the Ramius name. Cowen and Company offers industry focused investment banking for growth-oriented companies, domain knowledge-driven research and a sales and trading platform for institutional investors. Founded in 1918, the firm is headquartered in New York and has offices located in major financial centers around the world.

Important Disclosures:

Please consider carefully the Fund’s investment objective, risks, charges and expenses before investing. The prospectus, that contains this and other information about the Fund is available free of charge by calling 1.877.672.6487 and should be read carefully prior to investing.

The Fund intends to achieve exposure to the commodity and financial futures markets primarily by investing in the Subsidiary, which, in turn, will invest in the Trading Entities.  To qualify for the tax treatment available to regulated investment companies under the Code, the Fund must derive at least 90% of its gross income for each taxable year from sources treated as “qualifying income” under the Code.  Income derived from direct