Jeffrey Solomon Appointed Chief Executive Officer at Cowen and Company

NEW YORK, Oct 07, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) —

Cowen Group, Inc. (“Cowen”) (NASDAQ: COWN) today announced that,
effective immediately, Jeffrey Solomon will assume the role of Chief
Executive Officer of Cowen and Company, the firm’s broker dealer
platform. Prior to this position, Mr. Solomon served as Chief Operating
Officer of Cowen Group and Head of Investment Banking at Cowen and
Company. In his new role, Mr. Solomon will oversee all of Cowen and
Company’s businesses including Investment Banking, Capital Markets,
Sales & Trading and Research.

Mr. Solomon is supported by a skilled team that includes Chris McCabe
and Kevin Raidy, who were appointed Co-Heads of Investment Banking;
Kevin Reynolds, Head of Global Capital Markets; John O’Donoghue, Head of
Equities; Tom O’Mara, Head of Equity Derivatives; and Barry Tarasoff,
Head of Research.

Peter Cohen, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Cowen Group,
commented, “Given Jeff’s breadth of experience in the financial services
sector, he is the right person to lead Cowen and Company as we continue
to organize the broker dealer platform to leverage our market position.
His client-focused perspective and understanding of the business will
allow us to be more effective in unifying the Cowen and Company platform
to meet client needs in this challenging economic environment.”

Jeff Solomon said, “I look forward to capitalizing on the momentum we
have been able to achieve to date and to continue re-shaping our
business. We have a tremendous opportunity to take advantage of the
current market turmoil by providing innovative financial solutions to
meet the needs of our clients across the platform. I look forward to
working with Chris and Kevin in their new roles as well as our entire
management team to achieve this goal.”

Background on Jeffrey Solomon

Jeff Solomon was appointed Chief Operating Officer of Cowen Group in May
2010 and Head of Investment Banking at Cowen and Company later that
year. Prior to the Ramius/Cowen Group merger in 2009, Mr. Solomon was a
Managing Member and founder of Ramius LLC. Mr. Solomon joined Ramius
when it was founded in 1994 and was responsible for the development,
management and oversight of a number of the investment strategies
currently employed by Ramius.

From 1991 to 1994, Mr. Solomon was the Chief Administrative Officer at
Republic New York Securities Corporation, the brokerage affiliate of
Republic National Bank, now part of the HSBC Group. Mr. Solomon began
his career in the Mergers and Acquisitions Group at Shearson Lehman
Brothers and was part of the internal corporate finance team that worked
closely with senior management in evaluating the Company’s operations,
capital usage and investment strategies, including the acquisition and
disposition of corporate assets.

Currently, Mr. Solomon is a member of the Committee on Capital Markets
Regulation. He is also on the Board of Directors of Hale & Hearty Soups,
a New York based restaurant chain, and NuGo Nutrition, the manufacturer
of NuGo Nutrition Bars.

Mr. Solomon graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1988 with a
B.A. in Economics.

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, 212-687-8080
or
Carissa Ramirez, 312-895-4701