Daniel Charney Joins Cowen Group as Co-Head of Equities

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Jan. 23, 2012–
Cowen Group, Inc. (“Cowen”) (NASDAQ: COWN) today announced that Dan
Charney has joined the firm as Managing Director and Co-Head of
Equities. Mr. Charney will join Tom O’Mara, Co-Head of Equities, in
overseeing the Company’s domestic and international equity sales and
trading businesses. He is based in New York and reports to Jeffrey
Solomon, Chief Executive Officer of Cowen and Company, Cowen’s
broker-dealer business.

“Dan’s leadership will be a valuable asset as we continue to grow our
equities sales and trading business globally,” said Solomon. “His
diverse experience over his twenty year career and proven track record
of building equity distribution platforms will be helpful as we enhance
our sales and trading operations. Dan is a tremendous addition to our
team and we look forward to the contributions that both he and Tom will
make to the success of our equities franchise.”

Dan Charney joins Cowen from Jefferies where he was most recently
Managing Director and Head of Global Electronic Trading Services as well
as Head of U.S. Salestrading. Before joining Jefferies, Mr. Charney was
a Managing Director and head of West Coast equity distribution at UBS
Securities and he held various other positions in the financial services
sector earlier in his career. He has a Bachelor of Arts from the
University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from the Haas School of Business
at University of California Berkeley.

About Cowen Group, Inc.

Cowen Group, Inc. is a diversified financial services firm and, together
with its consolidated subsidiaries, provides alternative investment
management, investment banking, research, and sales and trading services
through its two business segments: Ramius and its affiliates makes up
the Company’s alternative investment management segment, while Cowen and
Company is its broker-dealer segment. Its alternative investment
management products, solutions and services include hedge funds,
replication products, managed futures funds, fund of funds, real estate,
health care royalty funds and cash management services. 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.

Source: Cowen Group, Inc.

Sard Verbinnen & Co
Dan Gagnier/Carissa Ramirez, 212-687-8080