Jacob Walthour Will Be Joining Ramius as Vice-Chairman of New Business and Product Development
NEW YORK, NY, January 16, 2014 – Ramius LLC, (“Ramius”) the global investment management business of Cowen Group, Inc. (“Cowen”) (Nasdaq: COWN), today announced that Jacob “Jake” Walthour will be joining the firm as Vice-Chairman of New Business and Product Development. In this new role, Mr. Walthour will be responsible for expanding the firm’s relationships within the global financial community, creating alternative investment solutions and attracting talented investment teams to the Ramius institutional platform.
Michael Singer, Chief Executive Officer of Ramius, said, “Jake is an extremely accomplished industry professional with a unique blend of client, research and investment experience, and we are thrilled to have him join Ramius. Over the past year, we’ve made great progress in developing our platform, expanding our capabilities and building broader and deeper relationships in the investor community. We look forward to Jake’s contributions to advance our efforts even further.”
Thomas W. Strauss, Chairman of Ramius, said, “Jake has worked at some of the industry’s most experienced and successful firms and personally advised sophisticated institutional investors on a global basis. This experience coupled with the human, intellectual and financial resources of Ramius will drive our growth and expand strategic relationships. We collectively welcome him to the team.”
Jake Walthour commented, “Our business continues to evolve in ways that require open-mindedness, client-centric thinking and willingness to partner with LPs. Our commitment will be to developing differentiated products and customized solutions in structures that offer better alignment with their portfolio needs. What attracted me to Ramius is the firm’s leadership, entrepreneurial culture and robust operational platform that gives each investment team the ability to focus on generating solid results for clients. I am excited to be joining such a deep and dynamic organization.”
The Ramius platform currently offers capabilities in small-cap activism, healthcare royalties, customized alternative solutions, event driven equity, real estate, long/short credit and managed futures. The firm has also been at the forefront of liquid alternative strategies including the recently launched event driven equity fund (Ticker: REDIX/REDAX).
About Jake Walthour
Mr. Walthour will be joining Ramius from Cliffwater LLC, where he has been serving as Managing Director, Member of the Client Services and Portfolio Construction Team. He has also served on the firm’s Investment Committee. Prior to joining Cliffwater, Mr. Walthour was a Managing Director at Citadel Investment Group where he headed a team focused on North American distribution for the firm’s various hedge fund and private capital vehicles. Before Citadel, he was a partner and Head of Advisory Services at Aksia LLC, where he oversaw business development, client consulting and portfolio management for the firm’s discretionary accounts. His twenty four years of investment banking, traditional and alternative experience includes employment at Lehman Brothers, Morgan Stanley and Moore Capital Management. He also served as Executive Assistant to New York State Comptroller H. Carl McCall and developed one of the first emerging manager programs in alternative and traditional investment management for the New York State Common Retirement Fund. Mr. Walthour received his BA cum laude in Political Science from the Nelson Rockefeller School at the State University of New York in Albany. He serves on the Girl Scouts USA Investment Sub-committee and remains a Director of the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights.
About Ramius LLC
Ramius is an alternative investment platform offering innovative products and solutions across the liquidity spectrum to institutional and private clients. Founded in 1994, the firm offers investors access to strategies to meet their unique needs including small-cap activism, healthcare royalties, customized solutions, event driven equity, real estate, long/short credit and managed futures. Ramius attracts talented in-house and affiliated investment teams and provides them with institutional infrastructure, proven sales and marketing and industry know how. The firm is committed to the success of its global investor base and invests a significant portion of firm capital alongside clients. Ramius manages over $9 billion in assets.
About Cowen Group, Inc.
Cowen Group, Inc. is a diversified financial services firm and, together with its consolidated subsidiaries, provides alternative asset management, investment banking, research, and sales and trading services through its two business segments: Ramius and its affiliates make up the Company’s alternative investment segment, while Cowen and Company and its affiliates make up the Company’s broker-dealer segment. Ramius provides alternative asset management solutions to a global client base and manages a significant portion of Cowen’s proprietary capital. Cowen and Company and its affiliates offer 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.
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