Cowen to Build Products to Support Small-Cap Pilot Program

First Organization to Announce Creation of Products to Help Clients Trade Efficiently

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Cowen Group, Inc. (“Cowen”) (NASDAQ: COWN) today announced that it is initiating the development of a customized suite of electronic products and analytic tools for customers to efficiently trade the 1400 securities that will comprise the U.S. Security and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC”) recently approved two-year pilot program. This program, which will begin by May 6, 2016, will widen the minimum quoting and trading increments for stocks of certain small-cap companies to test for long-term changes to trading these stocks. Products and analytics will be developed by Cowen / ATM, a leading provider of broker neutral and execution algorithms.

“Regulators have worked tirelessly to develop a pilot program aimed at helping to evaluate ways to improve trading liquidity for smaller companies, and now it is our job to develop appropriate products that will be available for clients starting on day one of the pilot program,” said Jeffrey M. Solomon, President of Cowen Group and Co-Chair of the Equity Capital Formation (ECF) Task Force, a group dedicated to supporting the country’s startup and small-cap company ecosystems. “We intend to work closely with our clients throughout the development process to ensure that these products help our clients to efficiently trade the securities participating in the pilot program and enable the SEC to draw as many meaningful conclusions as possible.”

Cowen / ATM has a history of focusing specifically on providing superior execution to institutional clients and helping traders to make informed trading decisions, including traditional and proprietary algorithms. Cowen / ATM will take the same approach to helping clients navigate the pilot program.

“We are speaking with institutional clients, technology partners, exchanges and alternative trading systems to ensure we are creating products that incorporate feedback across the ecosystem,” said John Cosenza, Co-Head of Cowen / ATM. “Once the pilot program begins, trading rules will no longer be ‘one-size-fits-all.’ As a leader in non-conflicted, algorithmic execution and development of solutions to efficiently execute trades, products that address the small-cap pilot program will be an important component of our overall product suite. We envision new execution strategies, optimization of models and routing of existing products as well as tailored execution analytics for the pilot securities.”

By integrating a client first approach with a venue-neutral business model consisting of execution algorithms, routing strategies, portfolio trading and analytics products, Cowen / ATM is uniquely positioned for the future U.S. equity ecosystem.

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 worldwide. To download Cowen’s investor relations app, which offers access to SEC filings, news releases, webcasts and presentations, please visit the App Store for iPhone and iPad or Google Play for Android mobile devices.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150518006472/en/

Media:
Sard Verbinnen & Co
Dan Gagnier/Carissa Felger
212-687-8080

Source: Cowen Group, Inc.

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