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.

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