SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwire - March 05, 2008) - Thomas Weisel
Partners Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: TWPG) (TSX: TWP) announced today that
Lionel F. Conacher is being appointed Chief Operating Officer in
addition to his current role as company President.

The company also announced that David Baylor, the current Chief
Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer, is resigning his
position as Chief Operating Officer effective immediately, but will
remain as Chief Financial Officer through a transition period that
will include the completion of Registrant's financial statements and
the filing of its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended
December 31, 2007. A national search firm will be retained to
identify a new Chief Financial Officer. The CFO role will be
temporarily assumed by Shaugn Stanley. Shaugn was the CFO at
Montgomery Securities for two years from 1996 to 1998 and the CFO of
TWPG from 1998 to 2001. Previous to Montgomery, Shaugn was with
Fidelity for six years serving as the CFO for the brokerage division.
Shaugn will be supported by Keith Harris and Ryan Stroub. Ryan is
currently a Managing Director and Head of Finance for TWPG and Keith
Harris was the CFO at Westwind prior to the acquisition.

"Lionel was appointed President on the close of the Westwind
acquisition. He has been responsible for integrating the two
platforms and will now become our COO with the additional
responsibility of the heads of investment banking and brokerage
reporting directly to him," said Thom W. Weisel, Chairman and CEO of
TWPG. "Lionel is the rare combination of entrepreneur, investment
banker and CFO with a very strong leadership and operational
background."

Weisel continued: "At the same time, I'd like to extend our gratitude
and well-wishes to David Baylor as he moves on to the private equity
world. David has been a valued partner since the founding of TWPG in
1998. He was invaluable in driving our IPO and secondary offering."

Baylor commented: "I have had a rewarding and fulfilling career at
TWPG and wish my colleagues well as they continue to build TWP into
the premier global growth focused investment bank."

Weisel reiterated his optimism about the future for TWPG while
acknowledging the current challenging environment. "It's tough going
right now but when the markets recover we are well-positioned for
growth. We have a strong balance sheet with excess cash reserves and
minimal debt. We also expect meaningful synergies from the
combination of Westwind and TWPG. In the last month since the
acquisition was completed, TWP Canada has completed a number of
successful financings in the resource sector including Chariot
Resources, Vero Energy, Challenger Energy and Cyberplex. Our new
strategy in brokerage is bearing fruit. Revenues increased 20% to
$34.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2007. We have also experienced
positive momentum in Canada where we are moving up the rankings in
institutional block trading directly as a result of the power of the
combined platform."

About Thomas Weisel Partners Group, Inc.

Thomas Weisel Partners Group, Inc. is an investment bank, founded in
1998, focused principally on the growth sectors of the economy.
Thomas Weisel Partners Group, Inc. generates revenues from three
principal sources: investment banking, brokerage and asset
management. The investment banking group is comprised of two
disciplines: corporate finance and strategic advisory. The brokerage
group provides equity and convertible debt securities sales and
trading services to institutional investors, and offers brokerage,
advisory and cash management services to high-net-worth individuals
and corporate clients. The asset management group consists of:
private equity, public equity and distribution management. Thomas
Weisel Partners is headquartered in San Francisco with additional
offices in Baltimore, Boston, Calgary, Chicago, Cleveland, Denver,
Montreal, New York, Portland, Silicon Valley, Toronto, London, Mumbai
and Zurich. For more information, please visit www.tweisel.com.

Investor Relations Contact:
Deborah Lightfoot
415-364-2500
investorrelations@tweisel.com

Media Contact:
Amanda Cooke Gaines
415-364-2500
againes@tweisel.com





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