NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Cowen Group, Inc. (“Cowen”) (NASDAQ: COWN) today announced two appointments within its investment banking platform, Cowen and Company. John Nelson has joined the firm as Managing Director and Head of Aerospace, Defense and Industrials Investment Banking and Jeff Porphy has been appointed Head of Mergers and Acquisitions. Mr. Porphy will maintain his role as Head of Financial Sponsors Coverage. Both Mr. Nelson and Mr. Porphy are based in New York and report to Kevin Raidy and Chris McCabe, Co-Heads of Investment Banking for Cowen and Company.
“I am very pleased to welcome John Nelson back to Cowen,” said Jeff Solomon, Chief Executive Officer of Cowen and Company. “From 2007 to early 2011, John played a significant role in the initial build-out of Cowen’s Aerospace & Defense investment banking platform. John is an accomplished banker with an impressive transaction track record and a wealth of relationships across his coverage universe. We look forward to his contributions.”
He continued, “I am also delighted to announce the appointment of Jeff Porphy as Cowen’s Head of Mergers and Acquisitions. He has been a valuable member of the banking team and, through his leadership, we have taken important steps in enhancing our coverage and winning mandates. With over twenty years of industry experience and a deep understanding of our advisory capabilities, Jeff is the ideal candidate to lead our mergers and acquisitions practice.”
John Nelson re-joins Cowen from Macquarie Capital where he served as a Managing Director in the firm’s Industrials Investment Banking group. Mr. Nelson served as Head of Cowen and Company’s Aerospace & Defense Investment Banking group from August 2007 to April 2011. Prior to joining Cowen in 2007, Mr. Nelson was a Managing Director in the Mergers & Acquisitions Group of Friedman Billings Ramsey (the acquirer of Legacy Partners Group), where he was Head of Aerospace, Defense and IT Services. Previously, Mr. Nelson was a Managing Director at Bank of America Securities, where he was Head of the Technology & Business Services Corporate Investment Banking Group from 2000 to 2002.
Mr. Porphy joined Cowen in March 2010 as Head of Financial Sponsors Coverage and subsequently assumed responsibility for Industrials Investment Banking at Cowen and Company. Prior to this, he served as Head of Financial Sponsor Idea Generation and Corporate Advisory M&A at Barclays Capital. Before Barclays, Mr. Porphy was Managing Director and Head of Financial Sponsors M&A and Co-Head of Middle Market M&A at Credit Suisse.
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.