Edgar Filing: COWEN GROUP, INC.

10K 12/31/11

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

Form 10-K

Annual Report Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934



For the fiscal year ended:	December 31, 2011	Commission file number: 001-34516

Cowen Group, Inc.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)



	Delaware (State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)		27-0423711 (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)

599 Lexington Avenue

New York, New York 10022

(212) 845-7900

(Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of registrant's principal executive office)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:



Title of Each Class		Name of Exchange on Which Registered
Class A Common Stock, par value $0.01 per share		The Nasdaq Global Market

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes o No Q

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Act. Yes o No Q

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes Q No o

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files). Yes Q No o

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant's knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of the Annual Report on Form 10-K or any amendment to the Annual Report on Form 10-K. Q

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of "large accelerated filer," "accelerated filer," and "smaller reporting company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.



Large accelerated filer o	Accelerated filer Q	Non-accelerated filer o (Do not check if a smaller reporting company)	Smaller reporting company o

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). Yes o No Q

The aggregate market value of Class A common stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant on June 30, 2011, the last business day of the registrant's most recently completed second fiscal quarter, based upon the closing sale price of the Class A common stock on the NASDAQ Global Market on that date was $301,319,256.

As of March 8, 2012 there were 114.4 million shares of the registrant's common stock outstanding.

Documents incorporated by reference:

Part III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K incorporates by reference information (to the extent specific sections are referred to herein) from the Registrant's Proxy Statement for its 2012 Annual Meeting of Stockholders.

TABLE OF CONTENTS



Item No.			Page No.
PART I
	1.	Business	1
	1A.	Risk Factors	2
	1B.	Unresolved Staff Comments	17
	2.	Properties	17
	3.	Legal Proceedings	18
	4.	Mine Safety Disclosures	19
PART II
	5.	Market for Registrant's Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities	20
	6.	Selected Financial Data	22
	7.	Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations	25
	7A.	Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk	59
	8.	Financial Statements and Supplementary Data	61
	9.	Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure	61
	9A.	Controls and Procedures	61
	9B.	Other Information	61
PART III
	10.	Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance	62
	11.	Executive Compensation	62
	12.	Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters	62
	13.	Certain Relationships and Related Transactions	62
	14.	Principal Accountant Fees and Services	62
PART IV
	15.	Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules	62
CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS			F-1
Management's Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting			F-2
Report of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm			F-3
Consolidated Statements of Financial Condition			F-4
Consolidated Statements of Operations			F-5
Consolidated Statements of Changes in Equity			F-6
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows			F-7
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements			F-9
Supplemental Financial Information			F-71
SIGNATURES
EXHIBIT INDEX

Table of Contents

Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

We have included or incorporated by reference into our Annual Report on Form 10-K (the "Annual Report"), and from time to time may make in our public filings, press releases or other public documents, certain statements, including (without limitation) those under Item 1—"Business," Item 1A—"Risk Factors," Item 3—"Legal Proceedings," Item 7—"Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and Item 7A—"Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk" that may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In some cases, you can identify these statements by forward-looking terms such as "may," "might," "will," "would," "could," "should," "expect," "plan," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "project," "possible," "potential," "intend," "seek" or "continue," the negative of these terms and other comparable terminology or similar expressions. In addition, our management may make forward-looking statements to analysts, representatives of the media and others. These forward-looking statements represent only the Company's beliefs regarding future events (many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and beyond our control) and are predictions only, based on our current expectations and projections about future events. There are important factors that could cause our actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. In particular, you should consider the risks outlined under Item 1A—"Risk Factors" in this Annual Report.

Although we believe the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee future results, level of activity, performance or achievements. Moreover, neither we nor any other person assumes responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of any of these forward-looking statements. You should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. We undertake no obligation to update any of these forward-looking statements after the date of this filing to conform our prior statements to actual results or revised expectations.

iii

Table of Contents

PART I

When we use the terms "we," "us," "Cowen Group" and the "Company," we mean Cowen Group, Inc., a Delaware corporation, its consolidated subsidiaries and entities in which it has a controlling financial interest, taken as a whole, as well as any predecessor entities, unless the context otherwise indicates.

Item 1. Business

Overview

Cowen Group, Inc., a Delaware corporation formed in 2009, is a diversified financial services firm and, together with its consolidated subsidiaries (collectively, "Cowen", "Cowen Group" or the "Company"), provides alternative investment management, investment banking, research, and sales and trading services through its two business segments: Ramius LLC and its affiliates (“Ramius”) comprise the Company's alternative investment management segment, while Cowen and Company, LLC ("Cowen and Company") and its affiliates comprise the Company's broker-dealer segment. For a discussion of certain financial information broken down by segment, please see the notes to the Company's consolidated financial statements.

Our alternative investment management business had approximately $10.3 billion of assets under management as of January 1, 2012. The predecessor to this business was founded in 1994 and, through one of its subsidiaries, has been a registered investment adviser under the Investment Advisers Act since 1997. Our alternative investment management products, solutions and services include hedge funds, replication products, mutual funds, managed futures funds, fund of funds, real estate, healthcare royalty funds, and cash management and mortgage advisory services offered primarily under the Ramius name. Our institutional investors include pension funds, insurance companies, banks, foundations and endowments, wealth management organizations and family offices.

Our broker-dealer businesses include research, brokerage and investment banking services to companies and institutional investor clients primarily in the healthcare, technology, media and telecommunications, consumer, aerospace and defense, industrials, REITs and alternative energy sectors. We provide research and brokerage services to over 1,000 domestic and international clients seeking to trade securities, principally in our target sectors. Historically, we have focused our investment banking efforts on small to mid-capitalization public companies as well as private companies.

In April 2011, we completed the spin-off of our Value and Opportunity business, which focuses on investing in deep value situations and using shareholder activism to generate superior returns, into a stand-alone and independent business that is managed by Starboard Value LP ("Starboard"). We maintain a significant minority interest in Starboard.

In June 2011, we completed the acquisition of LaBranche & Co Inc. (“LaBranche”), a market-maker in exchange traded funds (“ETFs”) on various exchanges domestically and internationally. In the last quarter of 2011, we decided to discontinue this business as the subsidiaries were not meeting the Company's expectations as to their results of operations and were not generating positive cash flows.

In September 2011, we announced the launch of the Ramius Trading Strategies Managed Futures Fund, which provides investors access to a portfolio of institutional-caliber managed futures managers in a daily liquidity format utilizing Ramius's proprietary managed account infrastructure.

In September 2011, we also announced the expansion of our sales and trading platform with the addition of a group focused on Institutional Options and Event Driven Strategies, which includes both equity and options sales and trading.

In November 2011, we entered into an exclusive relationship with CRT Capital Group, LLC (“CRT”) for the origination and distribution of corporate fixed income and convertible securities. Under the terms of the agreement, it is anticipated that Cowen and Company's Investment Banking and Global Capital Markets teams will focus on origination activities, while CRT will utilize its sales force in the distribution of these securities.

Principal Business Lines

Alternative Investment Management Business

We operate our alternative investment management business primarily through Ramius. Our alternative investment management business had approximately $10.3 billion of assets under management as of January 1, 2012. The predecessor to this business was founded in 1994 and, through one of its subsidiaries, has been a registered investment adviser under the Investment Advisers Act since 1997. Our alternative investment management products, solutions and services include hedge funds, replication products, mutual funds, managed futures funds, fund of funds, real estate, healthcare royalty funds, and cash management and mortgage advisory services offered primarily under the Ramius name. Our institutional investors include pension funds, insurance companies, banks, foundations and endowments, wealth management organizations and family offices.

Alternative Investment Management Products and Services

Hedge Funds

The Company's hedge funds are focused on addressing the needs of institutional investors and high net worth individuals to preserve and grow allocated capital. The Company offers two single-strategy hedge funds, one focused on global long/short credit and another small-cap value creation focused on corporate credit and credit-related products. The Company also manages multi-strategy hedge funds. The majority of assets remaining in these funds includes private investments in public companies, investments in private companies, real estate and special situations.

Alternative Solutions

The Company's Alternative Solutions business includes replication funds, individual portfolio solutions for large institutional clients, and traditional fund of funds products. Our replication funds and accounts focus on replication of a custom alternative investment index and seek to provide investors the opportunity to access market exposures typically characterized by investments in less liquid alternative investments. The individual portfolio solutions business seeks to provide institutional clients with customized products and services designed to the characteristics of their individual portfolio. The Company offers fund of funds investment products that invest in a number of alternative investment management vehicles that are selected by the Company and are not affiliated with the Company, with the goal of achieving consistent and stable returns to investors. A fund of funds offers investors the opportunity to invest in private investment vehicles whose purpose is to invest in a group of underlying hedge funds or other alternative investment management vehicles selected by the fund of funds investment manager. We have created a number of programs including long/short equity, global value creation, diversified absolute return, concentrated multi-strategy, as well as client-focused solutions based on hedging overlays and replication, varying regulatory structures and other client-driven portfolio constraints. The fund of funds program employs evaluation procedures to determine the opportunity set for each strategy, identifies appropriate institutional quality underlying-managers with a history of longevity and stability, conducts detailed investment, operational, legal, financial and risk due diligence on each underlying-manager, and utilizes qualitative and quantitative techniques to construct portfolios of those underlying-managers' alternative investment management vehicles. The resulting portfolio allocations are continuously analyzed and adjusted according to the outlook for each strategy and underlying-manager. The Company's fund of funds program invests with approximately 75 underlying fund managers and was established in 1998.

Ramius Trading Strategies ("RTS")

RTS manages various funds and accounts that seek to provide investors with returns uncorrelated with the public equity and debt markets while maintaining a strong liquidity profile. In order to achieve this objective, RTS identifies, and allocates capital to various third party commodity trading advisors that pursue a managed futures strategy in a managed account format.

Real Estate Funds

The Company's real estate funds have focused on generating attractive, risk adjusted returns by using our owner/manager approach to underwriting, structuring, financing and redevelopment of all real estate property types since 1999. This approach emphasizes a focus on real estate fundamentals and potential market inefficiencies. As of December 31, 2011, the Ramius Urban American Funds owned interests in and managed approximately 12,346 multi family housing units in the New York metropolitan area. The RCG Longview platform provides bridge senior loans, subordinated mortgages, mezzanine loans, and preferred equity through its debt fund series, and makes equity investments through its equity fund. As of December 31, 2011, the members of the general partners of the RCG Longview Platform and its affiliates, independent of the RCG Longview Funds, collectively owned interests in and/or manage approximately 27,000 apartments and over 22 million square feet of commercial space for their own accounts. The Company's ownership interests in the various general partners of the Ramius Urban American Funds and RCG Longview Funds range from 30% to 55%.

Cowen Healthcare Royalty Partners ("CHRP")

The funds managed by CHRP (the "CHRP Funds") invest principally in commercial-stage biopharmaceutical products and companies through the purchase of royalty or synthetic royalty interests and structured debt and equity instruments. The CHRP Funds seek these royalty interests in end-user sales of commercial-stage or near commercial-stage medical products such as pharmaceuticals, biotechnology products and medical devices. We share the net management fees from the CHRP Funds equally with the founders of the CHRP Funds. In addition, we have interests in the general partners of the CHRP Funds ranging from 27% to 40.2%.

Cash Management and Mortgage Advisory Services

The Company's cash management services business provides clients with investment guidelines for managing cash and establishes investment programs for managing their cash in separately managed accounts. The Company's cash management products are focused on preserving principal, maintaining daily liquidity and maximizing returns for investors. Portfolios are separately managed according to each investor's investment guidelines and are held at a custodian. Investor cash and other short term fixed income assets are managed for corporate, municipal, not-for-profit and other institutional clients (including hedge funds). The Company's mortgage advisory business involves collateral management services for certain collateralized debt obligation products.

Broker-Dealer Business

We operate our broker-dealer business through Cowen and Company. Cowen and Company is an international investment bank dedicated to providing superior research, brokerage and investment banking services to companies and institutional investor clients primarily in the healthcare, technology, media and telecommunications, consumer, aerospace and defense, industrials, REITs and alternative energy sectors. We provide research and sales and trading services to over 1,000 domestic and international clients seeking to trade securities, principally in our target sectors. We focus our investment banking efforts on growth-oriented public companies as well as private companies.

Investment Banking

Our investment banking professionals are focused on providing strategic advisory and capital raising services to U.S. and international public and private companies in the healthcare, technology, media and telecommunications, consumer, aerospace and defense, industrials, REITs and alternative energy sectors. By focusing on Cowen and Company's target sectors over a long period of time, we have developed a significant understanding of the unique challenges and demands with respect to public and private capital raising and strategic advice in these sectors. Our advisory and capital raising capabilities begin at the early stages of a private company's accelerated growth phase and continue through its evolution as a public company. Our advisory business focuses on mergers and acquisitions, including providing fairness opinions and providing advice on other strategic transactions. Our capital markets capabilities include equity, including private investments in public equity and registered direct offerings, credit and fixed income, including public and private debt placements, exchange offers, consent solicitations and tender offers, as well as origination and distribution capabilities for convertible securities. We have a unified capital markets group which we believe will allow us to be more effective in providing cohesive solutions for our clients. Historically, a significant majority of Cowen and Company's investment banking revenue has been earned from high-growth small and mid-capitalization companies. We believe that our relationship with CRT for the origination and distribution of corporate fixed income and convertible securities will enhance our capital markets origination activities.

Brokerage

Our team of brokerage professionals serves institutional investor clients in the United States and internationally. Cowen and Company trades common stocks, listed options and equity-linked and fixed income securities on behalf of its clients. We also provide our clients with an electronic execution suite and, until the end of the fourth quarter of 2011, an ETF trading and market making platform. We have relationships with over 1,000 institutional investor clients. Our brokerage team is comprised of experienced professionals dedicated to Cowen and Company's target sectors, which allows us to develop a level of knowledge and focus that we believe differentiates our brokerage capabilities from those of many of our competitors. We tailor our account coverage to the unique needs of our clients. We believe that our sector traders are able to provide superior execution because of their knowledge of the interests of our institutional investor clients in specific companies in Cowen and Company's target sectors.

Our sales professionals also provide our institutional investor clients with access to the management of our investment banking clients outside the context of financing transactions. These meetings are commonly referred to as non-deal road shows. Non-deal road shows allow our investment banking clients to increase their visibility within the institutional investor community while providing our institutional investor clients with the opportunity to further educate themselves on companies and industries through meetings with management. We believe Cowen and Company's deep relationships with company management teams and its sector-focused approach provide us with broad access to management for the benefit of our institutional investor and investment banking clients.

Research

As of December 31, 2011, we have a research team of 26 senior analysts covering approximately 405 companies. Within our coverage universe, approximately 135 are healthcare companies, 120 are technology companies, 48 are consumer companies, 29 are aerospace and defense companies, 11 are alternative energy companies, 39 are REITs and 23 are Chinese companies. Our differentiated approach to research focuses our analysts' efforts toward delivering specific investment ideas and de-emphasizes maintenance research. We sponsor a number of conferences every year that are focused on our target sectors and sub-sectors. During these conferences we highlight our investment research and provide significant investor access to corporate management teams.

Information About Geographic Areas

We are principally engaged in providing alternative investment management services to global institutional investors and investment banking sales and trading and research services to corporations and institutional investor clients primarily in the United States. We provide investment banking services to companies in China through Cowen and Company (Asia) Limited ("Cowen Asia"). We provide investment banking services to companies and institutional investor clients in Europe through our U.K. broker-dealer, Cowen International Limited ("CIL").

Employees

As of March 8, 2012, the Company had 589 employees.

Competition

We compete with many other firms in all aspects of our business, including raising funds, seeking investment opportunities and hiring and retaining professionals, and we expect our business will continue to be highly competitive. The alternative investment management and investment banking industries are currently undergoing contraction and consolidation, reducing the number of industry participants and generally resulting in the larger firms being better positioned to retain and gain market share. We compete in the United States and globally for investment opportunities, investor capital, client relationships, reputation and talent. We face competitors that are larger than we are and have greater financial, technical and marketing resources. Certain of these competitors continue to raise additional amounts of capital to pursue investment strategies that may be similar to ours. Some of these competitors may also have access to liquidity sources that are not available to us, which may pose challenges for us with respect to investment opportunities. In addition, some of these competitors may have higher risk tolerances or make different risk assessments than we do, allowing them to consider a wider variety of investments and establish broader networks of business relationships. Our competitive position depends on our reputation, our investment performance and processes, the breadth of our business platform and our ability to continue to attract and retain qualified employees while managing compensation and other costs. For additional information regarding the competitive risks that we face, see "Item 1A Risk Factors-Risks Related to the Company's Alternative Investment Management Business" and "Risk Factors-Risks Related to the Company's Broker-Dealer Business."

Regulation

Our businesses, as well as the financial services industry generally, are subject to extensive regulation, including periodic examinations by governmental and self-regulatory organizations, in the United States and the jurisdictions in which we operate around the world. As a publicly traded company in the United States, we are subject to the U.S. federal securities laws and regulation by the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC").

Most of the investment advisers of our alternative investment funds are registered as investment advisers with the SEC. Registered investment advisers are subject to the requirements of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (the "Advisers Act") and the regulations promulgated thereunder. Such requirements relate to, among other things, fiduciary duties to clients, maintaining an effective compliance program, solicitation agreements, conflicts of interest, recordkeeping and reporting requirements, disclosure requirements, limitations on agency cross and principal transactions between an advisor and advisory clients and general anti-fraud prohibitions. We believe all of our wholly-owned investment advisers to our alternative investment funds comply in all material respects with the Advisers Act requirements and regulations.

We are also subject to regulation under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"), the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), and various other statutes. Many of the investment advisers to our alternative investment funds are also subject to regulation by the National Futures Association and the U.S. Commodities Futures Trading Commission. In addition, we are subject to regulation by the Department of Labor under the U.S. Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 ("ERISA"). In the United Kingdom, we are subject to regulation by the U.K. Financial Services Authority ("FSA"), in Luxembourg by the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier, in Japan by the Financial Services Agency and in Hong Kong by the Securities and Futures Commission ("SFC"). Our investment activities around the globe are subject to a variety of regulatory regimes that vary country by country.

Regulatory bodies in the United States and the rest of the world are charged with safeguarding the integrity of the securities and other financial markets and with protecting the interests of customers participating in those markets. In light of recent events in the financial markets, governmental authorities in the United States and in the other countries in which we operate have proposed or adopted additional disclosure requirements and regulation of hedge funds and other alternative asset managers. For example, rulemaking by the SEC and other regulatory authorities outside the United States has imposed trading and reporting requirements on short selling, which could adversely affect trading opportunities, including hedging opportunities, for our funds. In addition, on July 21, 2010, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act ("Dodd-Frank Act") was signed into law in the United States. Implementation of the Dodd-Frank Act will be accomplished through extensive rulemaking by the SEC and other governmental agencies. The Dodd-Frank Act establishes the Financial Services Oversight Council (the "FSOC") to identify threats to the financial stability of the United States; promote market discipline; and respond to emerging risks to the stability of the United States financial system. The FSOC is empowered to determine whether the material financial distress or failure of a non-bank financial company would threaten the stability of the United States financial system, and such a determination can subject a non-bank financial company to supervision by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve and the imposition of standards and supervision including stress tests, liquidity requirements and enhanced public disclosures. The FSOC has released a proposed rule regarding its authority to require the supervision and regulation of systemically significant non-bank financial companies. A final rule and designations of systemically significant non-bank financial companies are expected later this year. The Dodd-Frank Act also mandates the preparation of studies on a wide range of issues that could lead to additional regulatory changes. Until these rules and resulting changes are fully developed, it is not practical to assess the impact that the Dodd-Frank Act or the resulting rules and regulations will have on us and on the financial services industry. On February 9, 2012 the CFTC issued final rules on the registration and compliance of commodity pool operators (“CPOs”), including rescinding an exemption relating to private funds and narrowing an exception from registration with respect to registered investment companies. While certain details have yet to be clarified, these new rules are expected to result in additional regulatory and registration requirements for certain of the private funds and registered funds managed by our investment advisers. See "Item 1A Risk Factors" for more information.

Our businesses have operated for many years within a legal framework that requires us to be able to monitor and comply with a broad range of legal and regulatory developments that affect our activities. In addition, certain of our businesses are subject to compliance with laws and regulations of United States federal and state governments, foreign governments, their respective agencies and/or various self-regulatory organizations or exchanges relating to the privacy of client information, and any failure to comply with these regulations could expose us to liability and/or reputational damage. Additional legislation, changes in rules promulgated by the SEC and self-regulatory organizations or changes in the interpretation or enforcement of existing laws and rules, either in the United States or elsewhere, may directly affect the mode of our operation and profitability. The United States and non-United States government agencies and self-regulatory organizations, as well as state securities commissions in the United States, are empowered to conduct administrative proceedings that can result in censure, fine, the issuance of cease-and-desist orders or the suspension or expulsion of a broker-dealer or its directors, officers or employees. Occasionally, we have been subject to investigations and proceedings, and sanctions have been imposed for infractions of various regulations relating to our activities.

Cowen and Company is a registered broker-dealer with the SEC and in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Self-regulatory organizations, including the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority ("FINRA"), adopt and enforce rules governing the conduct and activities of its member firms, including Cowen and Company. In addition, state securities regulators have regulatory or oversight authority over our broker-dealer entities. Accordingly, Cowen and Company is subject to regulation and oversight by the SEC and FINRA. Cowen and Company is also a member of, and subject to regulation by, the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE"), the Chicago Board Options Exchange, the Philadelphia Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange, the International Stock Exchange, the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, the Chicago Board of Trade and the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Broker-dealers are subject to regulations that cover all aspects of the securities business, including sales methods, trade practices among broker-dealers, use and safekeeping of customers' funds, securities and information, capital structure, record-keeping, the financing of customers' purchases and the conduct and qualifications of directors, officers and employees. In particular, as registered broker-dealers and members of various self-regulatory organizations, Cowen and Company and Cowen Capital LLC ("Cowen Capital") are subject to the SEC's uniform net capital rule. Rule 15c3-1 under the Exchange Act. Rule 15c3-1 specifies the minimum level of net capital a broker-dealer must maintain and also requires that a significant part of a broker-dealer's assets be kept in relatively liquid form. The SEC and various self-regulatory organizations impose rules that require notification when net capital falls below certain predefined criteria, limit the ratio of subordinated debt to equity in the regulatory capital composition of a broker-dealer and constrain the ability of a broker-dealer to expand its business under certain circumstances. Additionally, the SEC's uniform net capital rule requires us to give prior notice to the SEC for certain withdrawals of capital. As a result, our ability to withdraw capital from our broker-dealer subsidiaries may be limited.

The research functions of investment banks have been, and continue to be, the subject of regulatory scrutiny. In 2002 and 2003, acting in part pursuant to a mandate contained in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, the SEC, the NYSE and the predecessor to FINRA adopted rules imposing heightened restrictions on the interaction between equity research analysts and investment banking personnel at member securities firms. The requirements resulting from these regulations have necessitated the development and enhancement of corresponding policies and procedures.

The effort to combat money laundering and terrorist financing is a priority in governmental policy with respect to financial institutions. The Bank Secrecy Act ("BSA"), as amended by Title III of the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001 and its implementing regulations ("Patriot Act"), requires broker-dealers and other financial services companies to maintain an anti-money laundering compliance program that includes written policies and procedures, designated compliance officer(s), appropriate training, independent review of the program, standards for verifying client identity at account opening and obligations to report suspicious activities and certain other financial transactions. Through these and other provisions, the BSA and Patriot Act seek to promote the identification of parties that may be involved in financing terrorism or money laundering. We must also comply with sanctions programs administered by the U.S. Department of Treasury's Office of Foreign Asset Control, which may include prohibitions on transactions with designated individuals and entities and with individuals and entities from certain countries.

Anti-money laundering laws outside the United States contain certain similar provisions. The obligation of financial institutions, including us, to identify their customers, watch for and report suspicious transactions, respond to requests for information by regulatory authorities and law enforcement agencies, and share information with other financial institutions, has required the implementation and maintenance of internal practices, procedures and controls that have increased, and may continue to increase, our costs. Any failure with respect to our programs in this area could subject us to serious regulatory consequences, including substantial fines, and potentially other liabilities.

Rigorous legal and compliance analysis of our businesses and investments is important to our culture and risk management. In addition, disclosure controls and procedures and internal controls over financial reporting are documented, tested and assessed for design and operating effectiveness in compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. We strive to maintain a culture of compliance through the use of policies and procedures such as oversight compliance, codes of conduct, compliance systems, communication of compliance guidance and employee education and training. Our corporate risk management function further analyzes our business, investment and other key risks, reinforcing their importance in our environment. We have a compliance group that monitors our compliance with all of the regulatory requirements to which we are subject and manages our compliance policies and procedures. Our General Counsel supervises our compliance group, which is responsible for addressing all regulatory and compliance matters that affect our activities. Our compliance policies and procedures address a variety of regulatory and compliance risks such as the handling of material non-public information, position reporting, personal securities trading, valuation of investments on a fund-specific basis, document retention, potential conflicts of interest and the allocation of investment opportunities. Our compliance group also monitors the information barriers that we maintain between each of our different businesses. We believe that our various businesses' access to the intellectual capital, contacts and relationships that reside throughout our firm benefits all of our businesses. However, in order to maximize that access without compromising our legal and contractual obligations, our compliance group oversees and monitors the communications between or among our firm's different businesses.

Available Information

We routinely file annual, quarterly and current reports, proxy statements and other information required by the Exchange Act with the SEC. You may read and copy any document we file with the SEC at the SEC's public reference room located at 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20549, U.S.A. Please call the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330 for further information on the public reference room. Our SEC filings also are available to the public from the SEC's internet site at http://www.sec.gov.

We maintain a public internet site at http://www.cowen.com and make available free of charge through this site our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, Proxy Statements and Forms 3, 4 and 5 filed on behalf of directors and executive officers, as well as any amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to the Exchange Act as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the SEC. We also post on our website the charters for our Board of Directors' Audit Committee, Compensation Committee and Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, as well as our Corporate Governance Guidelines, our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics governing our directors, officers and employees and other related materials. The information on our website is not incorporated by reference into this Annual Report.

Table of Contents

Item 1A. Risk Factors

RISK FACTORS

Risks Related to the Company's Businesses and Industry

For purposes of the following risk factors, references made to the Company's funds include hedge funds and other alternative investment management products, services and solutions offered by the Company, investment vehicles through which the Company invests its own capital, funds in the Company's fund of funds business and real estate funds.

The Company

The Company's alternative investment management and broker-dealer businesses have incurred losses in recent periods and may incur losses in the future.

The Company's broker-dealer businesses have incurred losses in several recent periods, including a substantial loss in 2011, and the Company's alternative investment management and broker dealer businesses have also recorded net losses in certain quarters within other fiscal years. The Company may incur losses in any of its future periods. Future losses may have a significant effect on the Company's liquidity as well as our ability to operate.

In addition, we may incur significant expenses in connection with any expansion, strategic acquisition or investment with respect to our businesses. Specifically, we have invested, and will continue to invest, in our broker-dealer business, including hiring a number of senior professionals to expand our sales and trading product offerings. Accordingly, the Company will need to increase its revenues at a rate greater than its expenses to achieve and maintain profitability. If the Company's revenues do not increase sufficiently, or even if its revenues increase but it is unable to manage its expenses, the Company will not achieve and maintain profitability in future periods. As an alternative to increasing its revenues, the Company may seek additional capital through the sale of additional common stock or other forms of debt or equity financing. Particularly in light of current market conditions, the Company cannot be certain that it would have access to such financing on acceptable terms.

The Company depends on its key senior personnel and the loss of their services would have a material adverse effect on the Company's businesses and results of operations, financial condition and prospects.

The Company depends on the efforts, skill, reputations and business contacts of its principals and other key senior personnel, the information and investment activity these individuals generate during the normal course of their activities and the synergies among the diverse fields of expertise and knowledge held by the Company's senior professionals. Accordingly, the Company's continued success will depend on the continued service of these individuals. Key senior personnel may leave the Company in the future, and we cannot predict the impact that the departure of any key senior personnel will have on our ability to achieve our investment and business objectives. The loss of the services of any of them could have a material adverse effect on the Company's revenues, net income and cash flows and could harm our ability to maintain or grow assets under management in existing funds or raise additional funds in the future. Our senior and other key personnel possess substantial experience and expertise and have strong business relationships with investors in its funds, clients and other members of the business community. As a result, the loss of these personnel could have a material adverse effect on the Company's businesses and results of operations, financial condition and prospects.

The Company's ability to retain its senior professionals is critical to the success of its businesses, and its failure to do so may materially affect the Company's reputation, business and results of operations.

Our people are our most valuable resource. Our success depends upon the reputation, judgment, business generation capabilities and project execution skills of our senior professionals. Our employees' reputations and relationships with our clients are critical elements in obtaining and executing client engagements. Ramius and Cowen and Company encounter intense competition for qualified employees from other companies inside and outside of their industries. From time to time, Ramius and Cowen and Company have experienced departures of professionals. Losses of key personnel have occurred and may occur in the future. In addition, if any of our client-facing employees or executive officers were to join an existing competitor or form a competing company, some of our clients could choose to use the services of that competitor instead of the services of Ramius and Cowen and Company.

The success of our businesses is based largely on the quality of our employees and we must continually monitor the market for their services and seek to offer competitive compensation. In challenging market conditions, such as have occurred over the past two years, it may be difficult to pay competitive compensation without the ratio of our compensation and benefits expense to revenues becoming higher. In addition, a portion of the compensation of many of our employees takes the form of restricted stock or deferred cash that vest over a period of years, which is not as attractive to existing and potential employees as compensation consisting solely of cash or a lesser percentage of stock or other deferred compensation that may be offered by our competitors.

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Difficult market conditions, market disruptions and volatility have adversely affected, and may continue to adversely affect, the Company's businesses, results of operations and financial condition.

The Company's businesses, by their nature, do not produce predictable earnings, and all of the Company's businesses may be materially affected by conditions in the global financial markets and by global economic conditions, such as interest rates, the availability of credit, inflation rates, economic uncertainty, changes in laws, commodity prices, asset prices (including real estate), currency exchange rates and controls and national and international political circumstances (including wars, terrorist acts, protests or security operations). Recently, the sovereign debt crisis in Europe has impacted global credit and other financial markets and has resulted in substantial stress, volatility, illiquidity and disruption. These factors, combined with volatile commodity prices and foreign exchange rates, contributed to recessionary economic conditions globally and deterioration in consumer and corporate confidence and could further exacerbate the overall market disruptions and risks to market participants, including the Company's funds and managed accounts. These market conditions may affect the level and volatility of securities prices and the liquidity and the value of investments in the Company's funds, including Ramius Enterprise LP (which we refer to as Enterprise Fund), Cowen Overseas Investment LP (which we refer to as COIL) and Ramius Optimum Investments LLC (which we refer to as ROIL) in which the Company has investments of approximately $125.8 million, $149.7 million and $35.6 million, respectively, of its own capital as of December 31, 2011 and managed accounts, and the Company may not be able to effectively manage its alternative investment management business's exposure to these market conditions. Losses in the Enterprise Fund, COIL and ROIL could adversely affect our results of operations.

Volatility in the value of the Company's investments and securities portfolios or other assets and liabilities could adversely affect the financial condition or results of operations of the Company.

In accordance with US GAAP, we define fair value as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. ASC 820 also establishes a framework for measuring fair value and a valuation hierarchy based upon the transparency of inputs used in the valuation of an asset or liability. Changes in fair value are reflected in the statement of operations at each measurement period. Therefore, continued volatility in the value of the Company's investments and securities portfolios or other assets and liabilities, including funds, will result in volatility of the Company's results. As a result, changes in value may have an adverse effect on the Company's financial condition or operations in the future.

Limitations on access to capital by the Company and its subsidiaries could impair its liquidity and its ability to conduct its businesses.

Liquidity, or ready access to funds, is essential to the operations of financial services firms. Failures of financial institutions have often been attributable in large part to insufficient liquidity. Liquidity is of particular importance to Cowen and Company's trading business and perceived liquidity issues may affect the willingness of the Company's investment banking clients and counterparties to engage in brokerage transactions with Cowen and Company. Cowen and Company's liquidity could be impaired due to circumstances that the Company may be unable to control, such as a general market disruption or an operational problem that affects Cowen and Company, its trading clients or third parties. Furthermore, Cowen and Company's ability to sell assets may be impaired if other market participants are seeking to sell similar assets at the same time.

The Company is a holding company and primarily depends on its subsidiaries to fund its operations. Cowen and Company and Cowen Capital are subject to the net capital requirements of the SEC and various self-regulatory organizations of which they are members. These requirements typically specify the minimum level of net capital a broker-dealer must maintain and also mandate that a significant part of its assets be kept in relatively liquid form. CIL the Company's U.K. registered broker-dealer subsidiary, is subject to the capital requirements of the FSA. Cowen Asia is subject to the financial resources requirements of the SFC of Hong Kong. Any failure to comply with these capital requirements could impair the Company's ability to conduct its investment banking business.

The Company and its funds and/or Cowen and Company may become subject to additional regulations which could increase the costs and burdens of compliance or impose additional restrictions which could have a material adverse effect on the Company's businesses and the performance of the funds in its alternative investment management business.

Firms in the financial services industry have been subject to an increasingly regulated environment. The industry has experienced increased scrutiny from a variety of regulators, including the SEC, FINRA, the NYSE and state attorneys general. Penalties and fines sought by regulatory authorities have increased substantially over the last several years. In light of current conditions in the global financial markets and the global economy, regulators have increased their focus on the regulation of the financial services industry. The Company may be adversely affected by changes in the interpretation or enforcement of existing laws and rules by these governmental authorities and self-regulatory organizations. The Company also may be adversely affected as a result of new or revised legislation or regulations imposed by the SEC, other United States or foreign governmental regulatory authorities or self-regulatory organizations that supervise the financial markets. Among other things,

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the Company could be fined, prohibited from engaging in some of its business activities or subjected to limitations or conditions on its business activities. In addition, the Company could incur significant expense associated with compliance with any such legislation or regulations or the regulatory and enforcement environment generally. Substantial legal liability or significant regulatory action against the Company could have a material adverse effect on the financial condition and results of operations of the Company or cause significant reputational harm to the Company, which could seriously affect its business prospects.

The Company may need to modify the strategies or operations of its alternative investment management business, face increased constraints or incur additional costs in order to satisfy new regulatory requirements or to compete in a changed business environment. The Company's alternative investment management business is subject to regulation by various regulatory authorities that are charged with protecting the interests of investors. The activities of certain of the Company's subsidiaries are regulated primarily within the United States by the SEC, FINRA, and the National Futures Association, as well as various state agencies, and are also subject to regulation by other agencies in the various jurisdictions in which they operate, including the FSA, the Financial Services Agency of Japan, the SFC, the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority and the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier in Luxembourg. The activities of Ramius LLC, Ramius Advisors, LLC, Ramius Asia LLC, Ramius Alternative Solutions LLC, Ramius Structured Credit Group LLC and Ramius Trading Strategies LLC are all regulated by the SEC due to their registrations as U.S. investment advisers. In addition, the funds in the Company's alternative investment management business are subject to regulation in the jurisdictions in which they are organized. These and other regulators in these jurisdictions have broad regulatory powers dealing with all aspects of financial services including, among other things, the authority to make inquiries of companies regarding compliance with applicable regulations, to grant permits and to regulate marketing and sales practices and the maintenance of adequate financial resources. The Company is also subject to applicable anti-money laundering regulations and net capital requirements in the jurisdictions in which it operates. Additionally, the regulatory environment in which the Company operates frequently changes and has seen significant increased regulation in recent years and it is possible that this trend may continue. Such additional regulation could, among other things, increase compliance costs or limit our ability to pursue investment opportunities and strategies.

The regulatory environment continues to be turbulent. There is an extraordinary volume of regulatory discussion papers, draft directives and proposals being issued around the world and these initiatives are not always coordinated. The European Commission has issued a draft Directive on Alternative Investment Fund Managers, recommendations on directors' pay and financial services sector compensation and proposals on packaged retail investment products. In addition, the FSA of the United Kingdom has issued a discussion paper entitled "A Regulatory Response to the Global Banking Crisis" as well as undertaken an exercise to collect data to assess the systemic risk that hedge funds may or may not pose. The Bank of England is also collecting data on the systemic risk of hedge funds. Recent rulemaking by the SEC and other regulatory authorities outside the United States have imposed trading restrictions and reporting requirements on short selling, which have impacted certain of the investment strategies of the Company's investment funds and managed accounts, and continued restrictions on or further regulations of short sales could negatively impact the performance of the investment funds and managed accounts.

In addition, financial services firms are subject to numerous perceived or actual conflicts of interest, which have drawn and which we expect will continue to draw scrutiny from the SEC and other federal and state regulators. For example, the research areas of investment banks have been and remain the subject of heightened regulatory scrutiny, which has led to increased restrictions on the interaction between equity research analysts and investment banking personnel at securities firms. More recently, regulations have been focusing on the use of experts and expert networks and potential conflicts of interest or issues relating to impermissible disclosure of material nonpublic information. While the Company maintains various policies, controls and procedures to address or limit actual or perceived conflicts and regularly seeks to review and update such policies, controls and procedures, appropriately dealing with conflicts of interest is complex and difficult, and our reputation could be damaged if it fails to do so. Such policies and procedures to address or limit actual or perceived conflicts may also result in increased costs, additional operational personnel and increased regulatory risk. Failure to adhere to these policies and procedures may result in regulatory sanctions or client litigation.

Cowen and Company, Ramius and the Company are subject to third party litigation risk and regulatory risk which could result in significant liabilities and reputational harm which, in turn, could materially adversely affect their business, results of operations and financial condition.

As an investment banking firm, Cowen and Company depends to a large extent on its reputation for integrity and high-caliber professional services to attract and retain clients. As a result, if a client is not satisfied with Cowen and Company's services, it may be more damaging in its business than in other businesses. Moreover, Cowen and Company's role as advisor to clients on underwriting or merger and acquisition transactions involves complex analysis and the exercise of professional judgment, including rendering "fairness opinions" in connection with mergers and other transactions. Such activities may subject the Company to the risk of significant legal liabilities to clients and aggrieved third parties, including stockholders of clients who could commence litigation against Cowen and Company and/or the Company. Although Cowen and Company's

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investment banking engagements typically include broad indemnities from its clients and provisions to limit exposure to legal claims relating to such services, these provisions may not protect the Company or may not be enforceable in all cases. As a result, the Company may incur significant legal and other expenses in defending against litigation and may be required to pay substantial damages for settlements and/or adverse judgments. Substantial legal liability or significant regulatory action against the Company could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations or cause significant reputational harm, which could seriously harm our business and prospects.

In connection with the initial public offering of the former Cowen Group, Inc. (now Cowen Holdings) in July 2006 ("Cowen Holdings's IPO"), Cowen Holdings entered into an Indemnification Agreement with Société Générale, wherein, among other things, Société Générale agreed to indemnify Cowen Holdings for all liability arising out of all known, pending or threatened litigation (including the cost of such litigation) and arbitrations and certain known regulatory matters, in each case, that existed prior to the date of Cowen Holdings's IPO. Société Générale, however, will not indemnify Cowen Holdings, and Cowen Holdings will instead indemnify Société Générale, for most litigation, arbitration and regulatory matters that may occur in the future but were unknown at the time of Cowen Holdings's IPO and certain known regulatory matters.

In general, the Company is exposed to risk of litigation by investors in its alternative investment management business if the management of any of its funds is alleged to constitute negligence or dishonesty. Investors could sue to recover amounts lost by the Company's funds due to any alleged misconduct, up to the entire amount of the loss. In addition, the Company faces the risk of litigation from investors in the Company's funds if restrictions applicable to such funds are violated. We may also be exposed to litigation by investors in the Company's fund of funds platform for losses resulting from similar conduct at an underlying fund. Furthermore, the Company may be subject to litigation arising from investor dissatisfaction with the performance of the Company's funds and the funds invested in by the Company's fund of funds platform. In addition, the Company is exposed to risks of litigation or investigation relating to transactions that presented conflicts of interest that were not properly addressed. In the majority of such actions the Company would be obligated to bear legal, settlement and other costs, which may be in excess of any available insurance coverage. In addition, although the Company is indemnified by the Company's funds, our rights to indemnification may be challenged. If the Company is required to incur all or a portion of the costs arising out of litigation or investigations as a result of inadequate insurance proceeds, if any, or fails to obtain indemnification from its funds, our business, results of operations and financial condition could be materially adversely affected. In its alternative investment management business, the Company is exposed to the risk of litigation if a fund suffers catastrophic losses due to the failure of a particular investment strategy or due to the trading activity of an employee who has violated market rules or regulations. Any litigation arising in such circumstances is likely to be protracted, expensive and surrounded by circumstances which are materially damaging to the Company's reputation and businesses.

The potential for conflicts of interest within the Company, and a failure to appropriately identify and deal with conflicts of interest could adversely affect our businesses.

Due to the combination of our alternative investment management and investment banking businesses, we face an increased potential for conflicts of interest, including situations where our services to a particular client or investor or our own interests in our investments conflict with the interests of another client. Such conflicts may also arise if our investment banking business has access to material non-public information that may not be shared with our alternative investment management business or vice versa. Additionally, our regulators have the ability to scrutinize our activities for potential conflicts of interest, including through detailed examinations of specific transactions.

We have developed and implemented procedures and controls that are designed to identify and address conflicts of interest, including those designed to prevent the improper sharing of information among our businesses. In addition, our spin-off of our Value and Opportunities business was initiated, in part, to address potential conflicts of interest. However, appropriately identifying and dealing with conflicts of interest is complex and difficult, and the willingness of clients to enter into transactions or engagements in which such a conflict might arise may be affected if we fail to identify and appropriately address potential conflicts of interest. In addition, potential or perceived conflicts could give rise to litigation or enforcement actions.

Employee misconduct could harm the Company by, among other things, impairing the Company's ability to attract and retain investors and subjecting the Company to significant legal liability, reputational harm and the loss of revenue from its own invested capital.

It is not always possible to detect and deter employee misconduct. The precautions that the Company takes to detect and prevent this activity may not be effective in all cases, and we may suffer significant reputational harm and financial loss for any misconduct by our employees. The potential harm to the Company's reputation and to our business caused by such misconduct is impossible to quantify.

There is a risk that the Company's employees or partners, or the managers of funds invested in by the Company's fund of

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funds platform, could engage in misconduct that materially adversely affects the Company's business, including a decrease in returns on its own invested capital. The Company is subject to a number of obligations and standards arising from its businesses. The violation of these obligations and standards by any of the Company's employees could materially adversely affect the Company and its investors. For instance, the Company's businesses require that the Company properly deal with confidential information. If the Company's employees were improperly to use or disclose confidential information, we could suffer serious harm to our reputation, financial position and current and future business relationships. If one of the Company's employees were to engage in misconduct or were to be accused of such misconduct, the business and reputation of the Company could be materially adversely affected.

The Company may be unable to successfully identify, manage and execute future acquisitions, investments and strategic alliances, which could adversely affect our results of operations.

We intend to continually evaluate potential acquisitions, investments and strategic alliances to expand our alternative investment management and broker-dealer businesses. In the future, we may seek additional acquisitions, investments, strategic alliances or similar arrangements, which may expose us to risks such as:


•	the difficulty of identifying appropriate acquisitions, investments, strategic allies or opportunities on terms acceptable to us;


•	the possibility that senior management may be required to spend considerable time negotiating agreements and monitoring these arrangements;


•	potential regulatory issues applicable to the financial services business;


•	the loss or reduction in value of the capital investment;


•	our inability to capitalize on the opportunities presented by these arrangements; and


•	the possibility of insolvency of a strategic ally.

Furthermore, any future acquisitions of businesses could entail a number of risks, including:


•	problems with the effective integration of operations;


•	inability to maintain key pre-acquisition business relationships;


•	increased operating costs;


•	exposure to unanticipated liabilities; and


•	difficulties in realizing projected efficiencies, synergies and cost savings.

There can be no assurance that we would successfully overcome these risks or any other problems encountered with these acquisitions, investments, strategic alliances or similar arrangements.

RCG's significant ownership interest in the Company could affect the liquidity in the market for our Class A common stock.

RCG holds approximately 22.5% of our Class A common stock and therefore has significant influence over matters requiring approval by the Company's stockholders, including in the election of directors and approval of significant corporate transactions. Furthermore, RCG's managing member is controlled by certain members of our senior management, including Peter A. Cohen, our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. RCG's concentration of ownership may discourage a third party from proposing a change of control or other strategic transaction concerning the Company or otherwise have the effect of delaying or preventing a change of control of the Company that other stockholders may view as beneficial. As a result, the Company's Class A common stock could trade at prices that do not reflect a "control premium" to the same extent as do the stocks of similarly situated companies that do not have any single stockholder with an ownership interest as large as RCG's ownership interest.

The Company's future results will suffer if the Company does not effectively manage its expanded operations.

The Company may continue to expand its operations through new product and service offerings and through additional strategic investments, acquisitions or joint ventures, some of which may involve complex technical and operational challenges. The Company's future success depends, in part, upon its ability to manage its expansion opportunities, which pose numerous risks and uncertainties, including the need to integrate new operations into its existing business in an efficient and timely manner, to combine accounting and data processing systems and management controls and to integrate relationships with customers and business partners. In addition, future acquisitions or joint ventures may involve the issuance of additional shares of common stock of the Company, which may dilute the ownership of the Company's stockholders.

The Company's failure to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting in accordance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes‑Oxley Act could have a material adverse effect on the Company's financial condition, results of operations and business and the price of our Class A common stock.

The Sarbanes‑Oxley Act and the related rules require our management to conduct an annual assessment of the

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effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting and require a report by our independent registered public accounting firm addressing our internal control over financial reporting. To comply with Section 404 of the Sarbanes‑Oxley Act, we are required to document formal policies, processes and practices related to financial reporting that are necessary to comply with Section 404. Such policies, processes and practices are important to ensure the identification of key financial reporting risks, assessment of their potential impact and linkage of those risks to specific areas and activities within our organization.

If we fail for any reason to comply with the requirements of Section 404 in a timely manner, our independent registered public accounting firm may, at that time, issue an adverse report regarding the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. Matters impacting our internal controls may cause us to be unable to report our financial information on a timely basis and thereby subject us to adverse regulatory consequences, including sanctions by the SEC or violations of applicable stock exchange listing rules. There could also be a negative reaction in the financial markets due to a loss of investor confidence in us and the reliability of our financial statements. Any such event could adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations and business, and result in a decline in the price of our Class A common stock.

Certain provisions of the Company's amended and restated certificate of incorporation and bylaws and Delaware law may have the effect of delaying or preventing an acquisition by a third party.

The Company's amended and restated certificate of incorporation and bylaws contain several provisions that may make it more difficult for a third party to acquire control of the Company, even if such acquisition would be financially beneficial to the Company's stockholders. These provisions also may delay, prevent or deter a merger, acquisition, tender offer, proxy contest or other transaction that might otherwise result in the Company's stockholders receiving a premium over the then-current trading price of Class A common stock. For example, the Company's amended and restated certificate of incorporation authorizes its board of directors to issue up to 10,000,000 shares of "blank check" preferred stock. Without stockholder approval, the board of directors has the authority to attach special rights, including voting and dividend rights, to this preferred stock. With these rights, preferred stockholders could make it more difficult for a third party to acquire the Company. In addition, the Company's amended and restated bylaws provide for an advance notice procedure with regard to the nomination of candidates for election as directors and with regard to business to be brought before a meeting of stockholders. The Company is also subject to the anti-takeover provisions of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law. Under these provisions, if anyone becomes an "interested stockholder," the Company may not enter into a "business combination" with that person for three years without special approval, which could discourage a third party from making a takeover offer and could delay or prevent a change of control. For the purposes of Section 203, "interested stockholder" means, generally, someone owning 15% or more of the Company's outstanding voting stock or an affiliate of the Company that owned 15% or more of our outstanding voting stock during the past three years, subject to certain exceptions as described in Section 203.

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 may adversely impact the Company's business.

The Dodd-Frank Act, signed into law on July 21, 2010, represents a comprehensive overhaul of the financial services industry within the United States and will be implemented through extensive rulemaking by the SEC and other governmental agencies. In addition, the Dodd-Frank Act establishes the new federal Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (the "BCFP") and the FSOC and will require the BCFP and FSOC, among other federal agencies, to implement new rules and regulations. Until these rules and resulting changes are fully developed, it is not practical to assess the impact that the Dodd-Frank Act or the resulting rules and regulations will have on the Company's business or the financial services industry within the United States.

Risks Related to the Company's Alternative Investment Management Business

Ramius's profitability and, thus, the Company's profitability may be adversely affected by decreases in revenue relating to changes in market and economic conditions.

Market conditions have been and remain inherently unpredictable and outside of the Company's control, and may result in reductions in Ramius's revenue and results of operations. Such reductions may be caused by a decline in assets under management, resulting in lower management fees and incentive income, an increase in the cost of financial instruments, lower investment returns or reduced demand for assets held by the Company's funds, which would negatively affect the funds' ability to realize value from such assets or continued investor redemptions, resulting in lower fees and increased difficulty in raising new capital.

These factors may reduce the Company's revenue, revenue growth and income and may slow the growth of the alternative investment management business or may cause the contraction of the alternative investment management business. In particular, negative fund performance reduces assets under management, which decreases the management fees and incentive income that the Company earns. Negative performance of the Enterprise Fund, COIL and ROIL also decreases revenue derived from the Company's returns on investment of its own capital.

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Ramius's revenues and, in particular, its ability to earn incentive income, would be adversely affected if its funds or managed accounts fall beneath their "high-water marks" as a result of negative performance.

Incentive income, which has historically comprised a substantial portion of Ramius's annual revenues, is, in most cases, subject to "high-water marks" whereby incentive income is earned by Ramius only to the extent that the net asset value of a fund or managed account at the end of a measurement period exceeds the highest net asset value as of the end of a preceding measurement period for which Ramius earned incentive income. Ramius's incentive allocations are also subject, in some cases, to performance hurdles or benchmarks. To the extent Ramius's funds or managed accounts experience negative investment performance, the investors in these funds or managed accounts would need to recover cumulative losses before Ramius can earn incentive income with respect to the investments of those investors who previously suffered losses.

It may be difficult for Ramius to retain investment professionals during periods where market conditions make it more difficult to generate positive investment returns.

Certain of the Company's funds face particular retention issues with respect to investment professionals whose compensation is tied, often in large part, to such performance thresholds. This retention risk is heightened during periods where market conditions make it more difficult to generate positive investment returns. For example, several investment professionals receive performance-based compensation at the end of each year based upon their annual investment performance, and this performance-based compensation represents substantially all of the compensation the professional is entitled to receive during the year. If the investment professional's annual performance is negative, the professional may not be entitled to receive any performance-based compensation for the year. If investment professionals or funds, as the case may be, produce investment results that are negative (or below the applicable hurdle or benchmark), the affected investment professionals may be incentivized to join a competitor because doing so would allow them to earn performance-based compensation without the requirement that they first satisfy the high-water mark.

Investors in the Company's funds and investors with managed accounts can generally redeem investments with prior notice. The rate of redemptions could accelerate at any time. Historically, redemptions have created difficulties in managing the liquidity of certain of the Company's funds and managed accounts, reduced assets under management and adversely affected the Company's revenues, and may do so in the future.

Investors in the Company's funds and investors with managed accounts may generally redeem their investments with prior notice, subject to certain initial holding periods. Investors may reduce the aggregate amount of their investments, or transfer their investments to other funds or asset managers with different fee rate arrangements, for any number of reasons, including investment performance, changes in prevailing interest rates and financial market performance. Furthermore, investors in the Company's funds may be investors in products managed by other alternative asset managers where redemptions have been restricted or suspended. Such investors may redeem capital from Company's funds, even if the Company's funds' performance is superior, due to an inability to redeem capital from other managers. The allocation process for many investors is more selective and deliberate than it was prior to 2008. Increased volatility in global markets could accelerate the pace of fund and managed account redemptions. Redemptions of investments in the Company's funds could also take place more quickly than assets may be sold by those funds to meet the price of such redemptions, which could result in the relevant funds and/or Ramius being in breach of applicable legal, regulatory and contractual requirements in relation to such redemptions, resulting in possible regulatory and investor actions against Ramius, the Company's funds and/or the Company. If the Company's funds or managed accounts underperform, existing investors may decide to reduce or redeem their investments or transfer asset management responsibility to other asset managers and the Company may be unable to obtain new alternative investment management business. Any such action could potentially cause further redemptions and/or make it more difficult to attract new investors.

The redemption of investments in the Company's funds or in managed accounts could also adversely affect the revenues of the Company's alternative investment management business, which are substantially dependent upon the assets under management in the Company's funds. If redemptions of investments cause revenues to decline, they would likely have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations or financial condition. As a result of the disruptions and the resulting uncertainty during the second half of 2008 and early 2009, Ramius experienced an increase in the level of redemptions from the Company's funds and managed accounts. If this level of redemption activity returns, it could become more difficult to manage the liquidity requirements of the Company's funds, making it more difficult or more costly for the Company's funds to liquidate positions rapidly to meet redemption requests or otherwise. This in turn may negatively impact the Company's returns on its own invested capital.

In addition to the impact on the market value of assets under management, illiquidity and volatility of the global financial markets could negatively affect Ramius's ability to manage inflows and outflows from the Company's funds. Several alternative investment managers, including Ramius, have in the past exercised, and may in the future exercise their rights to limit, and in some cases, suspend, redemptions from the funds they manage. Ramius has also and may in the future negotiate with investors

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or exercise such rights in an attempt to limit redemptions or create a variety of other investor structures to bring fund assets and liquidity requirements into a more manageable balance. To the extent that Ramius has negotiated with investors to limit redemptions, it may be likely that such investors will continue to seek further redemptions in the future. Such actions may have an adverse effect on the ability of the Company's funds to attract new capital to existing funds or to develop new investment platforms. The Ramius fund of funds platform may also be adversely impacted as the hedge funds in which it invests themselves face similar investor redemptions or if such hedge funds exercise their rights to limit or suspend Ramius's redemptions from such funds. Poor performance relative to other asset management firms may result in reduced investments in the Company's funds and managed accounts and increased redemptions from the Company's funds and managed accounts. As a result, investment underperformance would likely have a material adverse effect on the Company's results of operations and financial condition.

Hedge fund investments, including the investments of the Company's own capital in the Enterprise Fund, COIL and ROIL, are subject to other additional risks.

Investments by the Company's funds (including the Enterprise Fund, COIL and ROIL, in which the Company's own capital is invested) are subject to certain risks that may result in losses. Decreases to assets under management as a result of investment losses or client redemptions may have a material adverse effect on the Company's revenues, net income and cash flows and could harm our ability to maintain or grow assets under management in existing funds or raise additional funds in the future. Additional risks include the following:


•	Generally, there are few limitations on hedge funds' investment strategies, which are often subject to the sole discretion of the management company or the general partner of such funds.

•

Hedge funds may engage in short selling, which is subject to a theoretically unlimited risk of loss because there is no limit on how much the price of a security sold short may appreciate before the short position is closed out. A fund may be subject to losses if a security lender demands return of the lent securities and an alternative lending source cannot be found or if the fund is otherwise unable to borrow securities that are necessary to hedge its positions. Furthermore, recent rulemaking by the SEC and other regulatory authorities outside the United States have imposed trading restrictions and reporting requirements on short selling, which in certain circumstances may impair hedge funds' ability to use short selling effectively.

•

The efficacy of investment and trading strategies depend largely on the ability to establish and maintain an overall market position through a combination of financial instruments. A hedge fund's trading orders may not be executed in a timely and efficient manner due to various circumstances, including systems failures or human error. In such event, the fund might only be able to acquire some but not all of the components of the position, or if the overall position were in need of adjustment, the fund might not be able to make such an adjustment. As a result, a hedge fund would not be able to achieve the market position selected by the management company or general partner of such fund, and might incur a loss in liquidating its position.

•

Credit risk may arise through a default by one of several large institutions that are dependent on one another to meet their respective liquidity or operational needs, so that a default by one institution causes a series of defaults by the other institutions. This "systemic risk" may adversely affect the financial intermediaries (such as clearing agencies, clearing houses, banks, securities firms, other counterparties and exchanges) with which the hedge funds interact on a daily basis.

•

Hedge funds are subject to risks due to the potential illiquidity of assets. Hedge funds may make investments or hold trading positions in markets that are volatile and which may become illiquid. The timely sale of trading positions can be impaired by decreased trading volume, increased price volatility, concentrated trading positions, limitations on the ability to transfer positions in highly specialized or structured transactions to which they may be a party, and changes in industry and government regulations. It may be impossible or highly costly for hedge funds to liquidate positions rapidly to meet margin calls, redemption requests or otherwise, particularly if there are other market participants seeking to dispose of similar assets at the same time, if the relevant market is otherwise moving against a position or in the event of trading halts or daily price movement limitations on the market. In addition, increased levels of redemptions may result in increased illiquidity as more liquid assets are sold to fund redemptions. Moreover, these risks may be exacerbated for the Company's fund of funds platform. For example, if the Company's fund of funds platform invested in two or more hedge funds that each had illiquid positions in the same issuer, the illiquidity risk for the Company's fund of funds portfolios would be compounded. Furthermore, certain of the investments of the Company's fund of funds platform were in third party hedge funds that halted redemptions in the recent past in the face of illiquidity and other issues, and could do so again in the future.

•

Hedge fund investments are subject to risks relating to investments in commodities, futures, options and other derivatives, the prices of which are highly volatile and may be subject to the theoretically unlimited risk of loss in certain circumstances. Price movements of commodities, futures and options contracts and payments pursuant to swap agreements are influenced by, among other things, interest rates, changing supply and demand relationships, trade, fiscal, monetary and exchange control programs and policies of governments and national and international political

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and economic events and policies. The value of futures, options and swap agreements also depends upon the price of the commodities underlying them. In addition, hedge funds' assets are subject to the risk of the failure of any of the exchanges on which their positions trade.

If a Ramius fund's or managed account counterparty for any of its derivative or non-derivative contracts defaults on the performance of those contracts, the Company may not be able to cover its exposure under the relevant contract.

The Company's funds and managed accounts enter into numerous types of financing arrangements with a wide array of counterparties around the world, including loans, hedge contracts, swaps, repurchase agreements and other derivative and non-derivative contracts. The terms of these contracts are generally complex and often customized and generally are not subject to regulatory oversight. The Company is subject to the risk that the counterparty to one or more of these contracts may default, either voluntarily or involuntarily, on its performance under the contract. Any such default may occur at any time without notice. Additionally, Ramius may not be able to take action to cover its exposure if a counterparty defaults under such a contract, either because of a lack of the contractual ability or because market conditions make it difficult to take effective action. The impact of market stress or counterparty financial condition may not be accurately foreseen or evaluated and, as a result, Ramius may not take sufficient action to reduce its risks effectively.

Counterparty risk is accentuated where the fund or managed account has concentrated its transactions with a single or small group of counterparties. Generally, hedge funds are not restricted from concentrating any or all of their transactions with one counterparty. Moreover, Ramius's internal review of the creditworthiness of their counterparties may prove inaccurate. The absence of a regulated market to facilitate settlement and the evaluation of creditworthiness may increase the potential for losses.

In addition, these financing arrangements often contain provisions that give counterparties the ability to terminate the arrangements if any of a number of defaults occurs with respect to the Company or its funds or managed accounts, as the case may be, including declines in performance or assets under management and losses of key management personnel, each of which may be beyond our control. In the event of any such termination, the Company's funds or managed accounts may not be able to enter into alternative arrangements with other counterparties and our business may be materially adversely affected.

The Company may suffer losses in connection with the insolvency of prime brokers, custodians, administrators and other agents whose services the Company uses and who may hold assets of the Company's funds.

All of the Company's funds use the services of prime brokers, custodians, administrators or other agents to carry out certain securities transactions and to conduct certain business of the Company's funds. In the event of the insolvency of a prime broker and/or custodian, the Company's funds might not be able to recover equivalent assets in full as they may rank among the prime broker's and custodian's unsecured creditors in relation to assets which the prime broker or custodian borrows, lends or otherwise uses. In addition, the Company's funds' cash held with a prime broker or custodian (if any) may not be segregated from the prime broker's or custodian's own cash, and the funds will therefore rank as unsecured creditors in relation thereto. Specifically, certain of the Company's funds used an affiliate of Lehman Brothers as one of their prime brokers and some of these funds also held assets through accounts at Lehman Brothers. Other affiliates of Lehman Brothers that are now in insolvency proceedings were also trading counterparties for some of the hedge funds managed by Ramius. The total net equity claim of the Company's funds with respect to Lehman Brothers was approximately $254.0 million, of which the Company has recovered $36 million and anticipates recovering approximately $114.4 million more from Lehman Brothers and its affiliates.

Operational risks relating to the failure of data processing systems and other information systems and technology may disrupt our alternative investment management business, result in losses and/or limit the business's operations and growth.

Ramius and its funds rely heavily on financial, accounting, trading and other data processing systems to, among other things, execute, confirm, settle and record transactions across markets and geographic locations in a time-sensitive, efficient and accurate manner. If any of these systems does not operate properly or are disabled, the Company could suffer financial loss, a disruption of its business, liability to the Company's funds, regulatory intervention and/or reputational damage. In addition, Ramius is highly dependent on information systems and technology, and the cost of maintaining such systems may increase from its current level. Such a failure to accommodate Ramius's operational needs, or an increase in costs related to such information systems, could have a material adverse effect on the Company, both with respect to a decrease in the operational performance of its alternative investment management business and an increase in costs that may be necessary to improve such systems.

The Company depends on its headquarters in New York, New York, where most of the Company's alternative investment management personnel are located, for the continued operation of its business. We have taken precautions to limit the impact that a disruption to operations at our New York headquarters could cause (for example, by ensuring that can operate independently of offices in other geographic locations). Although these precautions have been taken, a disaster or a disruption

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in the infrastructure that supports our alternative investment management business, including a disruption involving electronic communications or other services used by Ramius or third parties with whom Ramius does conduct business (including the funds invested in by the Ramius fund of funds platform), or directly affecting the New York, New York, headquarters, could have a material adverse impact on the Company's ability to continue to operate its alternative investment management business without interruption. Ramius's disaster recovery programs may not be sufficient to mitigate the harm that may result from such a disaster or disruption. In addition, insurance might only partially reimburse us for our losses, if at all. Finally, the Company relies on third party service providers for certain aspects of its business, including for certain information systems and technology and administration of the Company's funds. Severe interruptions or deteriorations in the performance of these third parties or failures of their information systems and technology could impair the quality of Ramius's operations and could impact the Company's reputation and materially adversely affect our alternative investment management business.

Certain of the Company's funds may invest in relatively high-risk, illiquid assets, and Ramius may fail to realize any profits from these activities for a considerable period of time or lose some or all of the principal amounts of these investments.

Certain of the Company's funds and managed accounts (including the Enterprise Fund, COIL and ROIL, in which the Company had approximately $125.8 million, $149.7 million and $35.6 million, respectively, of its own capital invested as of December 31, 2011) invest a portion of their assets in securities that are not publicly traded and funds invested in by the Ramius fund of funds platform may do the same. In many cases, such funds may be prohibited by contract or by applicable securities laws from selling such securities for a period of time or there may not be a public market for such securities. Even if the securities are publicly traded, large holdings of securities can often be disposed of only over a substantial length of time, exposing the investment returns to risks of downward movement in market prices during the disposition period. Accordingly, under certain conditions, the Company's funds, or funds invested in by the Ramius fund of funds platform, may be forced to either sell securities at lower prices than they had expected to realize or defer, potentially for a considerable period of time, sales that they had planned to make. Investing in these types of investments can involve a high degree of risk, and the Company's funds (including the Enterprise Fund, COIL and ROIL) may lose some or all of the principal amount of such investments, including our own invested capital.

Risk management activities may materially adversely affect the return on the Company's funds' investments if such activities do not effectively limit a fund's exposure to decreases in investment values or if such exposure is overestimated.

When managing the Company's funds' exposure to market risks, the relevant fund (or one of the funds invested in by the Ramius fund of funds platform) may use forward contracts, options, swaps, caps, collars and floors or pursue other strategies or use other forms of derivative financial instruments to limit its exposure to changes in the relative values of investments that may result from market developments, including changes in interest rates, currency exchange rates and asset prices. The success of such derivative transactions generally will depend on Ramius's (or the underlying fund manager's) ability to accurately predict market changes in a timely fashion, the degree of correlation between price movements of a derivative instrument, the position being hedged, the creditworthiness of the counterparty and other factors. As a result, these transactions may result in poorer overall investment performance than if they had not been executed. Such transactions may also limit the opportunity for gain if the value of a hedged position increases. For a variety of reasons, a perfect correlation between the instruments used in a hedging or other derivative transaction and the position being hedged may not be attained. An imperfect correlation could give rise to a loss. Also, it may not be possible to fully or perfectly limit exposure against all changes in the value of an investment because the value of an investment is likely to fluctuate as a result of a number of factors, many of which will be beyond Ramius's (or the underlying fund manager's) control or ability to hedge.

Fluctuations in currency exchange rates could materially affect the Company's alternative investment management business and its results of operations and financial condition.

The Company uses U.S. dollars as its reporting currency. Investments in the Company's funds and managed accounts are made in different currencies, including Euros, Pounds Sterling and Yen. In addition, the Company's funds and managed accounts hold investments denominated in many foreign currencies. To the extent that the Company's revenues from its alternative investment management business are based on assets under management denominated in such foreign currencies, our reported revenues may be significantly affected by the exchange rate of the U.S. dollar against these currencies. Typically, an increase in the exchange rate between U.S. dollars and these currencies will reduce the impact of revenues denominated in these currencies in the financial results of our alternative investment management business. For example, management fee revenues derived from each Euro of assets under management denominated in Euros will decline in U.S. dollar terms if the value of the U.S. dollar appreciates against the Euro. In addition, the calculation of the amount of assets under management is affected by exchange rate movements as assets under management denominated in foreign currencies are converted to U.S. dollars. Ramius also incurs a portion of its expenditures in currencies other than U.S. dollars. As a result, our alternative investment management business is subject to the effects of exchange rate fluctuations with respect to any currency conversions and Ramius's ability to hedge these risks and the cost of such hedging or Ramius's decision not to hedge could impact the performance of the Company's funds and our alternative investment management business and its results of

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operations and financial condition.

The due diligence process that Ramius undertakes in connection with investments by the Company's funds is inherently limited and may not reveal all facts that may be relevant in connection with making an investment.

Before making investments, particularly investments in securities that are not publicly traded, Ramius endeavors to conduct a due diligence review of such investment that it deems reasonable and appropriate based on the facts and circumstances applicable to each investment. When conducting due diligence, Ramius is often required to evaluate critical and complex business, financial, tax, accounting, environmental and legal issues. Outside consultants, legal advisors, accountants, investment bankers and financial analysts may be involved in the due diligence process in varying degrees depending on the type of investment. Nevertheless, when conducting due diligence and making an assessment regarding an investment, Ramius is limited to the resources available, including information provided by the target of the investment and, in some circumstances, third party investigations. The due diligence investigation that Ramius conducts with respect to any investment opportunity may not reveal or highlight all relevant facts that may be necessary or helpful in evaluating such investment opportunity. Moreover, such an investigation will not necessarily result in the investment being successful, which may adversely affect the performance of the Company's funds and managed accounts and the Company's ability to generate returns on its own invested capital from any such investment.

The Ramius real estate funds are subject to the risks inherent in the ownership and operation of real estate and the construction and development of real estate.

Investments in the Ramius real estate funds are subject to the risks inherent in the ownership and operation of real estate and real estate-related businesses and assets. These risks include those associated with general and local economic conditions, changes in supply of and demand for competing properties in an area, changes in environmental regulations and other laws, various uninsured or uninsurable risks, natural disasters, changes in real property tax rates, changes in interest rates, the reduced availability of mortgage financing which may render the sale or refinancing of properties difficult or impracticable, environmental liabilities, contingent liabilities on disposition of assets, terrorist attacks, war and other factors that are beyond our control. Further, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has found that global climate change could increase the severity and perhaps the frequency of extreme weather events, which could subject real property to increased weather-related risks in the coming years. There are also presently a number of current and proposed regulatory initiatives, both domestically and globally, that are geared towards limiting and scaling back the emission of greenhouse gases, which certain scientists have linked to global climate change. Although not known with certainty at this time, such regulation could adversely affect the costs to construct and operate real estate in the coming years, such as through increased energy costs.

In recent years commercial real estate markets in the United States and Japan generally experienced major disruptions due to the unprecedented lack of available capital, in the form of either debt or equity, and declines in value as a result of the overall economic decline. If these conditions were to occur again transaction volume may drop precipitously, negatively impacting the valuation and performance of the Ramius real estate funds significantly. Additionally, if the Ramius real estate funds acquire direct or indirect interests in undeveloped land or underdeveloped real property, which may often be non-income producing, they will be subject to the risks normally associated with such assets and development activities, including risks relating to the availability and timely receipt of zoning and other regulatory or environmental approvals, the cost, potential for cost overruns and timely completion of construction (including risks beyond the control of Ramius fund, such as weather or labor conditions or material shortages) and the availability of both construction and permanent financing on favorable terms.

The alternative investment management industry is intensely competitive, which may adversely affect the Company's ability to attract and retain investors and investment professionals.

The alternative investment management industry is extremely competitive. Competition includes numerous international, national, regional and local asset management firms and broker-dealers, commercial bank and thrift institutions, and other financial institutions. Many of these institutions offer products and services that are similar to, or compete with, those offered by us and have substantially more personnel and greater financial resources than Ramius does. The key areas for competition include historical investment performance, the ability to identify investment opportunities, the ability to attract and retain the best investment professionals and the quality of service provided to investors. The Company's ability to compete may be adversely affected if it underperforms in comparison to relevant benchmarks, peer groups or competing asset managers. The competitive market environment may result in increased downward pressure on fees, for example, by reduced management fee and incentive allocation percentages. The future results of operations of the Company's alternative investment management business are dependent in part on its ability to maintain appropriate fee levels for its products and services. In the current economic environment, many competing asset managers have experienced substantial declines in investment performance, increased redemptions, or counterparty exposures which impair their businesses. Some of these asset managers have reduced their fees in an attempt to avoid additional redemptions. Competition within the alternative investment management industry could lead to pressure on the Company to reduce the fees that it charges its clients for alternative investment management

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products and services. A failure to compete effectively in this environment may result in the loss of existing clients and business, and of opportunities to generate new business and grow assets under management, each of which could have a material adverse effect on the Company's alternative investment management business and results of operations, financial condition and prospects. Furthermore, consolidation in the alternative investment management industry may accelerate, as many asset managers are unable to withstand the substantial declines in investment performance, increased redemptions, and other pressures impacting their businesses, including increased regulatory, compliance and control requirements. Some competitors may acquire or combine with other competitors. The combined business may have greater resources than the Company does and may be able to compete more effectively against Ramius and rapidly acquire significant market share.

If Ramius or the Company were deemed an "investment company" under the U.S. Investment Company Act, applicable restrictions could make it impractical for Ramius and the Company to continue their respective businesses as contemplated and could have a material adverse effect on Ramius's and the Company's businesses and prospects.

A person will generally be deemed to be an "investment company" for purposes of the U.S. Investment Company Act of 1940, if:


•	it is or holds itself out as being engaged primarily, or proposes to engage primarily, in the business of investing, reinvesting or trading in securities; or


•	absent an applicable exemption, it owns or proposes to acquire investment securities having a value exceeding 40% of the value of its total assets (exclusive of U.S. government securities and cash items) on an unconsolidated basis.

The Company believes it is engaged primarily in the business of providing asset management and financial advisory services and not in the business of investing, reinvesting or trading in securities. The Company also believes that the primary source of income from its business is properly characterized as income earned in exchange for the provision of services. Ramius is an alternative investment management company and the Company does not propose to engage primarily in the business of investing, reinvesting or trading in securities. Accordingly, the Company does not believe that Ramius is a traditional investment company as defined in Section 3(a)(1)(A) of the Investment Company Act and described in the first bullet point above. Additionally, neither Ramius nor the Company is an inadvertent investment company by virtue of the 40% test in Section 3(a)(1)(C) of the Investment Company Act as described in the second bullet point above.

The Investment Company Act and the rules thereunder contain detailed requirements for the organization and operation of investment companies. Among other things, the Investment Company Act and the rules thereunder limit transactions with affiliates, impose limitations on the issuance of debt and equity securities, generally prohibit the issuance of options and impose certain governance requirements. The Company intends to conduct its alternative investment management operations so that neither the Company nor Ramius will be deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act. If anything were to happen which would cause Ramius or the Company to be deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act, requirements imposed by the Investment Company Act, including limitations on their respective capital structures, ability to transact business with affiliates (including subsidiaries) and ability to compensate key employees, could make it impractical for either Ramius or the Company to continue their respective businesses as currently conducted, impair the agreements and arrangements between and among them, their subsidiaries and their senior personnel, or any combination thereof, and materially adversely affect their business, financial condition and results of operations. Accordingly, Ramius or the Company may be required to limit the amount of investments that it makes as a principal or otherwise conduct its business in a manner that does not subject Ramius or the Company to the registration and other requirements of the Investment Company Act.

Recently, the SEC has adopted rules that require a firm that is registered with the SEC under the Advisers Act to file reports with the SEC disclosing extensive information regarding certain private funds managed by the firm. As a result, compliance costs and burdens upon the Ramius business may increase.

Increased regulatory focus could result in regulation that may limit the manner in which the Company and the Company's funds invest and the types of investors that may invest in the Company's funds, materially impacting the Company's business.

The Company's alternative investment management business may be adversely affected if new or revised legislation or regulations are enacted, or by changes in the interpretation or enforcement of existing rules and regulations imposed by the SEC, other U.S. or foreign governmental regulatory authorities or self-regulatory organizations that supervise the financial markets and their participants. Such changes could place limitations on the type of investor that can invest in alternative investment funds or on the conditions under which such investors may invest. Further, such changes may limit the scope of investing activities that may be undertaken by alternative investment managers as well as their funds. It is impossible to determine the extent of the impact of any new or recently enacted laws, including the Dodd-Frank Act, or any regulations or initiatives that may be proposed, or whether any of the proposals will become law. Compliance with any new laws or regulations could be difficult and expensive and affect the manner in which Ramius conducts business, which may adversely

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impact its results of operations, financial condition and prospects.

Additionally, as a result of highly publicized financial scandals, investors, regulators and the general public have exhibited concerns over the integrity of both the U.S. financial markets and the regulatory oversight of these markets. As a result, the business environment in which Ramius operates is subject to heightened regulation. With respect to alternative investment management funds, in recent years, there has been debate in both U.S. and foreign governments about new rules or regulations, including increased oversight or taxation, in addition to the recently proposed legislation described above. As calls for additional regulation have increased, there may be a related increase in regulatory investigations of the trading and other investment activities of alternative investment management funds, including the Company's funds. Such investigations may impose additional expenses on the Company, may require the attention of senior management and may result in fines if any of the Company's funds are deemed to have violated any regulations.

The Company's alternative investment management business may suffer as a result of loss of business from key investors.

The loss of all or a substantial portion of the business provided by key investors could have a material impact on income derived from management fees and incentive allocations and consequently have a material adverse effect on our alternative investment management business and results of operations or financial condition.

Risks Related to the Company's Broker-Dealer Business

The Company's broker-dealer business focuses principally on specific sectors of the economy, and deterioration in the business environment in these sectors or a decline in the market for securities of companies within these sectors could materially affect our broker-dealer business.

Cowen and Company focuses principally on the healthcare, technology, media and telecommunications, consumer, aerospace and defense, industrials, REITs and alternative energy sectors of the economy. Therefore, volatility in the business environment in these sectors or in the market for securities of companies within these sectors could substantially affect the Company's financial results and, thus, the market value of the Class A common stock. The business environment for companies in these sectors has been subject to substantial volatility, and Cowen and Company's financial results have consequently been subject to significant variations from year to year. The market for securities in each of Cowen and Company's target sectors may also be subject to industry-specific risks. For example, changes in policies of the United States Food and Drug Administration, along with changes in Medicare and government reimbursement policies, may affect the market for securities of healthcare companies.

As an investment bank which focuses primarily on specific growth sectors of the economy, Cowen and Company also depends significantly on private company transactions for sources of revenues and potential business opportunities. Most of these private company clients are initially funded and controlled by private equity firms. To the extent the pace of these private company transactions slows or the average size declines due to a decrease in private equity financings, difficult market conditions in Cowen and Company's target sectors or other factors, the Company's business and results of operations may be adversely affected.

The financial results of the Company's broker-dealer business may fluctuate substantially from period to period, which may impair the stock price of the Class A common stock.

Cowen and Company has experienced, and we expect to experience in the future, significant periodic variations in its revenues and results of operations. These variations may be attributed in part to the fact that its investment banking revenues are typically earned upon the successful completion of a transaction, the timing of which is uncertain and beyond Cowen and Company's control. In most cases, Cowen and Company receives little or no payment for investment banking engagements that do not result in the successful completion of a transaction. As a result, our investment banking business is highly dependent on market conditions as well as the decisions and actions of its clients and interested third parties. For example, a client's acquisition transaction may be delayed or terminated because of a failure to agree upon final terms with the counterparty, failure to obtain necessary regulatory consents or board or stockholder approvals, failure to secure necessary financing, adverse market conditions or unexpected financial or other problems in the client's or counterparty's business. If the parties fail to complete a transaction on which Cowen and Company is advising or an offering in which Cowen and Company is participating, we will earn little or no revenue from the transaction, and we may incur significant expenses that may not be recouped. This risk may be intensified by Cowen and Company's focus on growth companies in the healthcare, technology, media and telecommunications, consumer, aerospace and defense, industrials, REITs and alternative energy sectors as the market for securities of these companies has experienced significant variations in the number and size of equity offerings. Many companies initiating the process of an IPO are simultaneously exploring other strategic alternatives, such as a merger and acquisition transaction. The Company's investment banking revenues would be adversely affected in the event that an IPO for which it is acting as an underwriter is preempted by the company's sale if Cowen and Company is not also engaged as a strategic advisor in such sale. As a result, our investment banking business is unlikely to achieve steady and predictable

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earnings on a quarterly basis, which could in turn adversely affect the stock price of the Class A common stock.

Pricing and other competitive pressures may impair the revenues of the Company's brokerage business.

Cowen and Company's brokerage business accounted for approximately 63% of Cowen and Company's revenues during 2011. Along with other firms, Cowen and Company has experienced price competition in this business in recent years. In particular, the ability to execute trades electronically and through alternative trading systems has increased the pressure on trading commissions and spreads. We expect to continue to experience competitive pressures in these and other areas in the future as some of our competitors in the investment banking industry seek to obtain market share by competing on the basis of price or use their own capital to facilitate client trading activities. In addition, the Company faces pressure from Cowen and Company's larger competitors, who may be better able to offer a broader range of complementary products and services to clients in order to win their trading business. We are committed to maintaining and improving Cowen and Company's comprehensive research coverage to support its brokerage business and the Company may be required to make additional investments in Cowen and Company's research capabilities.

Cowen and Company faces strong competition from larger firms.

The research, brokerage and investment banking industries are intensely competitive, and the Company expects them to remain so. Cowen and Company competes on the basis of a number of factors, including client relationships, reputation, the abilities of Cowen and Company's professionals, market focus and the relative quality and price of Cowen and Company's services and products. Cowen and Company has experienced intense price competition in some of its businesses, including trading commissions and spreads in its brokerage business. In addition, pricing and other competitive pressures in investment banking, including the trends toward multiple book runners, co-managers and financial advisors, and a larger share of the underwriting fees and discounts being allocated to the book-runners, could adversely affect the Company's revenues from its investment banking business.

Cowen and Company is a relatively small investment bank. Many of Cowen and Company's competitors in the research, brokerage and investment banking industries have a broader range of products and services, greater financial resources, larger customer bases, greater name recognition and marketing resources, a larger number of senior professionals to serve their clients' needs, greater global reach and more established relationships with clients than Cowen and Company has. These larger competitors may be better able to respond to changes in the research, brokerage and investment banking industries, to compete for skilled professionals, to finance acquisitions, to fund internal growth and to compete for market share generally.

The scale of our competitors in the investment banking industry has increased in recent years as a result of substantial consolidation among companies in the research, brokerage and investment banking industries. In addition, a number of large commercial banks and other broad-based financial services firms have established or acquired underwriting or financial advisory practices and broker- dealers or have merged with other financial institutions. These firms have the ability to offer a wider range of products than Cowen and Company does which may enhance their competitive position. They also have the ability to support their investment banking and advisory groups with commercial banking and other financial services in an effort to gain market share, which has resulted, and could further result, in pricing pressure in Cowen and Company's businesses. If we are unable to compete effectively with our competitors in the investment banking industry, the Company's business and results of operations may be adversely affected.

A portion of Cowen and Company's investment banking business is from Chinese companies which could be materially adversely affected by an adverse change in investors' attitudes towards Chinese companies and changes in the political and economic policies of the government of the People's Republic of China.

During 2011, Cowen and Company derived a portion of its investment banking revenues from companies based in China and expects to pursue additional business in China in the future. Cowen and Company's ability to generate revenue from Chinese companies is significantly affected by investors' views of the Chinese economy and of the sophistication and integrity of a Chinese company's management. For instance, in the last few years, several publicly listed Chinese companies, one of which was a client and another of which was a potential client, were alleged to be engaging in fraud. Although this was limited to a small number of Chinese companies, negative publicity was generated for all Chinese issuers. While Cowen and Company performs extensive due diligence on all potential investment banking clients, including those located in China, if any such clients were alleged to be engaging in fraud, Cowen and Company may be subject to legal liability and reputational harm, which could adversely affect our results of operations and business condition. In addition, the current government leadership of the People's Republic of China has been pursuing economic reform policies that encourage private economic activity, greater economic decentralization and globalization, there is no assurance that the Chinese government will continue to pursue these policies, or that it will not significantly alter these policies from time to time, with or without notice. Further, the China region and markets may experience volatility, political turmoil, uncertainty or difficult economic or market conditions that differ from those in the United States. Any of these changes could negatively impact Cowen and Company's current business and its

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expansion plans within the China region which could have a negative impact on its revenues and results of operations.

The Company's capital markets and strategic advisory engagements are singular in nature and do not generally provide for subsequent engagements.

The Company's investment banking clients generally retain Cowen and Company on a short-term, engagement-by-engagement basis in connection with specific capital markets or mergers and acquisitions transactions, rather than on a recurring basis under long-term contracts. As these transactions are typically singular in nature and Cowen and Company's engagements with these clients may not recur, Cowen and Company must seek out new engagements when its current engagements are successfully completed or are terminated. As a result, high activity levels in any period are not necessarily indicative of continued high levels of activity in any subsequent period. If Cowen and Company is unable to generate a substantial number of new engagements that generate fees from new or existing clients, the Company's investment banking business and results of operations would likely be adversely affected.

Larger and more frequent capital commitments in the Company's trading and underwriting businesses increase the potential for significant losses.

There has been a trend toward larger and more frequent commitments of capital by financial services firms in many of their activities. For example, in order to compete for certain transactions, investment banks may commit to purchase large blocks of stock from publicly traded issuers or significant stockholders, instead of the more traditional marketed underwriting process in which marketing is completed before an investment bank commits to purchase securities for resale. The Company anticipates participating in this trend and, as a result, Cowen and Company will be subject to increased risk as it commits capital to facilitate business. Furthermore, Cowen and Company may suffer losses as a result of the positions taken in these transactions even when economic and market conditions are generally favorable for others in the industry.

Cowen and Company may enter into large transactions in which it commits its own capital as part of its trading business to facilitate client trading activities. The number and size of these large transactions may materially affect Cowen and Company's results of operations in a given period. Market fluctuations may also cause Cowen and Company to incur significant losses from its trading activities. To the extent that Cowen and Company owns assets (i.e., has long positions), a downturn in the value of those assets or in the markets in which those assets are traded could result in losses. Conversely, to the extent that Cowen and Company has sold assets it does not own (i.e., has short positions), in any of those markets, an upturn in the value of those assets or in markets in which those assets are traded could expose the Company's investment banking business to potentially large losses as it attempts to cover short positions by acquiring assets in a rising market.

Operational risks relating to the failure of data processing systems and other information systems and technology or other infrastructure may disrupt the Company's broker-dealer business, result in losses or limit the our operations and growth in the industry.

Cowen and Company's broker-dealer business is highly dependent on its ability to process, on a daily basis, a large number of transactions across diverse markets, and the transactions that Cowen and Company processes have become increasingly complex. The inability of Cowen and Company's systems to accommodate an increasing volume of transactions could also constrain the Company's ability to expand its broker-dealer business. If any of these systems do not operate properly or are disabled, or if there are other shortcomings or failures in Cowen and Company's internal processes, people or systems, the Company could suffer impairments, financial loss, a disruption of its broker-dealer business, liability to clients, regulatory intervention or reputational damage.

Cowen and Company has outsourced certain aspects of its technology infrastructure including data centers and wide area networks, as well as some trading applications. Cowen and Company is dependent on its technology providers to manage and monitor those functions. A disruption of any of the outsourced services would be out of the Company's control and could negatively impact our broker-dealer business. Cowen and Company has experienced disruptions on occasion, none of which has been material to Cowen and Company's operations and results. However, there can be no guarantee that future material disruptions with these providers will not occur.

The Company also faces the risk of operational failure of or termination of relations with any of the clearing agents, exchanges, clearing houses or other financial intermediaries that Cowen and Company uses to facilitate its securities transactions. Any such failure or termination could adversely affect Cowen and Company's ability to effect transactions and to manage its exposure to risk.

In addition, the Company's ability to conduct its broker-dealer business may be adversely impacted by a disruption in the infrastructure that supports Cowen and Company and the communities in which we are located. This may affect, among other things, the Company's financial, accounting or other data processing systems. This may include a disruption involving electrical, communications, transportation or other services used by us or third parties with which Cowen and Company

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conducts business, whether due to fire, other natural disaster, power or communications failure, act of terrorism or war or otherwise. Nearly all of our broker-dealer employees in our primary locations in New York, Boston, San Francisco and London work in close proximity to each other. Although Cowen and Company has a formal disaster recovery plan in place, if a disruption occurs in one location and our broker-dealer employees in that location are unable to communicate with or travel to other locations, Cowen and Company's ability to service and interact with its clients may suffer, and the Company may not be able to implement successfully contingency plans that depend on communication or travel.

Our investment banking business also relies on the secure processing, storage and transmission of confidential and other information in its computer systems and networks. Cowen and Company's computer systems, software and networks may be vulnerable to unauthorized access, computer viruses or other malicious code and other events that could have a security impact. If one or more of such events occur, this could jeopardize our or our broker-dealer clients' or counterparties' confidential and other information processed and stored in, and transmitted through, Cowen and Company's computer systems and networks, or otherwise cause interruptions or malfunctions in our broker-dealer business', its clients', its counterparties' or third parties' operations. The Company may be required to expend significant additional resources to modify its protective measures, to investigate and remediate vulnerabilities or other exposures or to make required notifications, and the Company may be subject to litigation and financial losses that are either not insured against or not fully covered through any insurance maintained by the Company.

The market structure in which our market-making business operates may continue to change or lose its viability, making it difficult for this business to achieve or maintain profitability.

Market structure changes have had an adverse affect on the results of operations of our market-making business. These changes may make it difficult for us to maintain and/or predict levels of profitability of, or may cause us to generate losses in, our market-making business.

The growth of electronic trading and the introduction of new technology in the markets in which our market-making business operates may adversely affect this business and may increase competition.

The continued growth of electronic trading and the introduction of new technologies is changing our market-making business and presenting new challenges. Securities, futures and options transactions are increasingly occurring electronically, through alternative trading systems. It appears that the trend toward alternative trading systems will continue to accelerate. This acceleration could further increase program trading, increase the speed of transactions and decrease our ability to participate in transactions as principal, which would reduce the profitability of our market-making business. Some of these alternative trading systems compete with our market-making business, and we may experience continued competitive pressures in these and other areas. Significant resources have been invested in the development of our electronic trading systems, but there is no assurance that the revenues generated by these systems will yield an adequate return on the investment, particularly given the increased program trading and increased percentage of stocks trading off of the historically manual trading markets.

Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments

None.

Item 2. Properties

Our main offices, all of which are leased, are located in New York City, Boston, San Francisco and London. Our corporate headquarters are located at 599 Lexington Avenue, New York, New York, and comprise approximately 91,124 square feet of leased space pursuant to lease agreements expiring in 2022. We also lease approximately 42,217 square feet of space at 1221 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York pursuant to a sublease agreement expiring in 2013. On December 31, 2011, the Company ceased using the leased premises located at 1221 Avenue of Americas. We acquired, through the LaBranche transaction during the second quarter of 2011, 48,000 square feet of leased space at 33 Whitehall Street which was subleased in the fourth quarter of 2011. We lease 38,217 square feet of space at Two International Place in Boston pursuant to a lease agreement expiring in 2014, which is used primarily by our broker-dealer segment. In San Francisco, we lease approximately 29,072 square feet of space at 555 California Street, pursuant to a lease agreement expiring in 2015 and used by our broker-dealer segment. Our London offices are located at Broadgate West Phase II, 1 Snowden Street, subject to a lease agreement expiring in 2017 that is used by our alternative investment management and broker-dealer segments, respectively. Our other offices, all of which are leased, are located in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Stamford, Geneva, Purchase (New York), Luxembourg, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai.

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Item 3. Legal Proceedings

In the ordinary course of business, we are named as defendants in, or as parties to, various legal actions and proceedings. Certain of these actions and proceedings assert claims or seek relief in connection with alleged violations of securities, banking, anti-fraud, anti-money laundering, employment and other statutory and common laws. Certain of these actual or threatened legal actions and proceedings include claims for substantial or indeterminate compensatory or punitive damages, or for injunctive relief.

In the ordinary course of business, we are also subject to governmental and regulatory examinations, information gathering requests (both formal and informal), certain of which may result in adverse judgments, settlements, fines, penalties, injunctions or other relief. Certain of our affiliates and subsidiaries are investment banks, registered broker-dealers, futures commission merchants, investment advisers or other regulated entities and, in those capacities, are subject to regulation by various U.S., state and foreign securities, commodity futures and other regulators. In connection with formal and informal inquiries by these regulators, we receive requests, and orders seeking documents and other information in connection with various aspects of our regulated activities.

Due to the global scope of our operations, and presence in countries around the world, we may be subject to litigation, and governmental and regulatory examinations, information gathering requests, investigations and proceedings (both formal and informal), in multiple jurisdictions with legal and regulatory regimes that may differ substantially, and present substantially different risks, from those we are subject to in the United States.

The Company seeks to resolve all litigation and regulatory matters in the manner management believes is in the best interests of the Company and its shareholders, and contests liability, allegations of wrongdoing and, where applicable, the amount of damages or scope of any penalties or other relief sought as appropriate in each pending matter.

In connection with Cowen Holdings' previous initial public offering (“IPO”) and separation from Société Générale (“SG”) in 2006, Cowen Holdings entered into an indemnification agreement with SG under which (1) SG will indemnify, and will defend and hold harmless Cowen Holdings and each of the Cowen Holdings' subsidiaries from and against certain liabilities assumed or retained by SG; and (2) SG will indemnify Cowen Holdings for known, pending and threatened litigation (including the costs of such litigation) and certain known regulatory matters, in each case, that existed prior to the date of the Cowen Holdings' IPO to the extent the cost of such litigation results in payments in excess of the amount placed in escrow to fund such matters (the “Indemnification Agreement”). To the extent that we are indemnified by SG, indemnified legal expenses and liabilities will be paid out of escrow pursuant to an escrow agreement with SG. As of December 31, 2011 and 2010, the total amount reserved in relation to the Indemnification Agreement was $0.5 million, respectively, and is accrued in accounts payable, accrued expenses and other liabilities in the consolidated statement of financial condition.

Except for the matters described below, based on currently available information, we do not believe that any matter will have a material adverse effect on our financial condition.

LaBranche Litigation

On February 22, 2011, a putative class action, captioned Moskal v. LaBranche & Co., et. al., was filed in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York, naming as defendants the Company, LaBranche & Co. and members of the board of directors of LaBranche & Co. (collectively, “LaBranche”), and Louisiana Merger Sub, Inc. On February 26, 2011, a separate lawsuit was filed, captioned Borowka v. LaBranche & Co., et al., in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York naming as defendants the same parties. The lawsuits challenged LaBranche's decision to sell all of its outstanding shares of common stock to the Company for $192.8 million. The complaints alleged, among other things, that the Company aided and abetted the LaBranche defendants in breaching their fiduciary duties to shareholders by failing to maximize the sale price for LaBranche.

On May 2, 2011, the parties to the consolidated lawsuit reached an agreement in principle to settle the consolidated lawsuit. On October 25, 2011, the parties executed a stipulation of settlement, which was filed with the Supreme Court on October 26, 2011. A hearing was held on February 1, 2012, at which the Supreme Court approved the settlement, which resolved all of the claims that were or could have been brought in the actions being settled, including all claims relating to the acquisition, the Merger Agreement and any disclosure made in connection therewith.

In re NYSE Specialists Securities Litigation

On or about October 16, 2003 through December 16, 2003, four purported class action lawsuits were filed in the SDNY by persons or entities who purchased and/or sold shares of stocks of NYSE listed companies, including Pirelli v.

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LaBranche & Co Inc., et al., No. 03 CV 8264, Marcus v. LaBranche & Co Inc., et al., No. 03 CV 8521, Empire v. LaBranche & Co Inc., et al., No. 03 CV 8935, and California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) v. New York Stock Exchange, Inc., et al., No. 03 CV 9968. On March 11, 2004, a fifth action asserting similar claims, Rosenbaum Partners, LP v. New York Stock Exchange, Inc., et al., No. 04 CV 2038, was also filed in the SDNY by an individual plaintiff who does not allege to represent a class.

On May 27, 2004, the SDNY consolidated these lawsuits under the caption In re NYSE Specialists Securities Litigation, No. CV 8264. The court named the following lead plaintiffs: CalPERS and Empire Programs, Inc.

On December 5, 2011, CalPERS and defendants entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) reflecting an agreement in principle to settle the action. The portion of the settlement amount allocated to LaBranche & Co Inc., LaBranche & Co. LLC and Mr. LaBranche pursuant to a confidential allocation agreement entered into by the defendants will be paid by the Company with amounts to be received from one of the Company's insurers, we do not beleive that this matter will have a material effect on the Company's operating results for the year ended December 31, 2011. The MOU contemplates the negotiation and execution of a final settlement agreement, and the settlement is subject to notice to the class and approval by the Court.

Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures

Not applicable.

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PART II

Item 5. Market for Registrant's Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

Stock Price Information and Stockholders

Our Class A common stock is listed and trades on the NASDAQ Global Market under the symbol "COWN." As of March 8, 2012, there were approximately 76 holders of record of our Class A common stock. This number does not include stockholders for whom shares were held in "nominee" or "street" name.

Prior to November 2, 2009, the common stock of Cowen Holdings had traded under the symbol "COWN" since Cowen Holdings's IPO in July 2006. Prior to November 2, 2009, our common stock was held by RCG and Cowen Holdings as restricted shares and was not publicly tradable.

The following table contains historical quarterly price information for the year ended December 31, 2011. On March 8, 2012, the last reported sale price of our common stock was $2.70.



2011 Fiscal Year	High		Low
First Quarter	$	5.02	$	3.74
Second Quarter	4.42		3.41
Third Quarter	4.28		2.56
Fourth Quarter	3.00		2.32

2010 Fiscal Year	High		Low
First Quarter	$	6.02	$	4.84
Second Quarter	6.02		3.87
Third Quarter	4.51		2.99
Fourth Quarter	5.04		3.25

Dividend Policy

We have never declared or paid any cash dividends on Class A common stock or any other class of stock. Any payment of cash dividends on stock in the future will be at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend upon our results of operations, earnings, capital requirements, financial condition, future prospects, contractual restrictions and other factors deemed relevant by our board of directors. We currently intend to retain any future earnings to fund the operation, development and expansion of our business, and therefore we do not anticipate paying any cash dividends in the foreseeable future.

Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

In July 2011, the Company's Board of Directors approved a share repurchase program that authorizes the Company to purchase up to $20 million of Cowen Class A common stock from time to time through a variety of methods, including in the open market or through privately negotiated transactions, in accordance with applicable securities laws. During the year ended December 31, 2011, through the share repurchase program, the Company repurchased 3,644,320 shares of Cowen Class A common stock at an average price of $3.12 per share.

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Period	Total Number of Shares Purchased	Average Price Paid per Share		Total Number of Shares Purchased as Part of Publicly Announced Plans or Programs	Maximum Number of Shares That May Yet Be Purchased Under the Plans or Programs

Month 1 (July 1, 2011 – July 31, 2011)
Common stock repurchases(1)	—	$	—	—	—	(3)
Employee transactions(2)	—	$	—	—	—
Total

Month 2 (August 1, 2011 – August 31, 2011)
Common stock repurchases(1)	1,104,326	$	3.41	—	—	(3)
Employee transactions(2)	114,482	$	3.57	—	—
Total

Month 3 (September 1, 2011 – September 30, 2011)
Common stock repurchases(1)	1,352,013	$	3.30	—	—	(3)
Employee transactions(2)	338,769	$	3.45	—	—
Total

Month 4 (October 1, 2011 – October 31, 2011)
Common stock repurchases(1)	—	$	—	—	—	(3)
Employee transactions(2)	134,035	$	2.90	—	—
Total

Month 5 (November 1, 2011 – November 30, 2011)
Common stock repurchases(1)	659,161	$	2.63	—	—	(3)
Employee transactions(2)	540,479	$	2.75	—	—
Total

Month 6 (December 1, 2011 – December 31, 2011)
Common stock repurchases(1)	528,820	$	2.66	—	—	(3)
Employee transactions(2)	74,917	$	2.52	—	—
Total

Total (July 1, 2011 – December 31, 2011)
Common stock repurchases(1)	3,644,320	$	3.12	—	—	(3)
Employee transactions(2)	1,202,682	$	3.02	—	—
Total


(1)	As announced in July 2011, the Company's Board of Directors authorized the repurchase, subject to market conditions, of up to $20 million of the Company's outstanding common stock.


(2)	Represents shares of common stock withheld in satisfaction of tax withholding obligations upon the vesting of equity awards.


(3)	Board approval of repurchases is based on dollar amount. The Company cannot estimate the number of shares that may yet be purchased.

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Item 6. Selected Financial Data

The following table sets forth our selected consolidated financial and other data for the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, and 2007. The selected consolidated statements of financial condition data and consolidated statements of operations data as of and for the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, and 2007 have been derived from our audited consolidated financial statements. Our selected consolidated financial data are only a summary and should be read in conjunction with the section entitled "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and with our audited consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. The selected financial data includes the results of Cowen Holdings for the period from November 2, 2009 through December 31, 2009 and for the subsequent years.

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	Year Ended December 31,
	2011			2010			2009			2008			2007
	(in thousands except per share data)
Consolidated Statements of Operations Data:
Revenues
Investment banking	$	50,976		$	38,965		$	10,557		$	—		$	—
Brokerage	99,611			112,217			17,812			—			—
Management fees	52,466			38,847			41,694			70,818			73,950
Incentive income	3,265			11,363			1,911			—			60,491
Interest and dividends	22,306			11,547			477			1,993			16,356
Reimbursement from affiliates	4,322			6,816			10,326			16,330			7,086
Other revenues	1,583			1,936			4,732			6,853			5,086
Consolidated Funds revenues	749			12,119			36,392			31,739			25,253
Total revenues	235,278			233,810			123,901			127,733			188,222
Expenses
Employee compensation and benefits	203,767			194,919			96,592			84,769			123,511
Non-compensation expense	161,955			136,902			69,818			54,856			79,020
Goodwill impairment	7,151			—			—			10,200			—
Consolidated Funds expenses	2,782			8,121			23,581			34,268			21,014
Total expenses	375,655			339,942			189,991			184,093			223,545
Other income (loss)
Net gain (loss) on securities, derivatives and other investments	15,128			21,980			(2,154		)	(2,006		)	94,078
Bargain purchase gain	22,244			—			—			—			—
Consolidated Funds net gains (losses)	4,395			31,062			20,999			(198,485		)	84,846
Total other income (loss)	41,767			53,042			18,845			(200,491		)	178,924
Income (loss) before income taxes	(98,610		)	(53,090		)	(47,245		)	(256,851		)	143,601
Income tax expense (benefit)	(20,073		)	(21,400		)	(8,206		)	(1,301		)	1,397
Net income (loss) from continuing operations	(78,537		)	(31,690		)	(39,039		)	(255,550		)	142,204
Net income (loss) from discontinued operations, net of tax	(23,646		)	—			—			—			—
Net income (loss)	(102,183		)	(31,690		)	(39,039		)	(255,550		)	142,204
Net income (loss) attributable to redeemable non-controlling interests in consolidated subsidiaries	5,827			13,727			16,248			(113,786		)	66,343
Special allocation to managing member	—			—			—			—			26,551
Net income (loss) attributable to Cowen Group, Inc. stockholders	$	(108,010	)	$	(45,417	)	$	(55,287	)	$	(141,764	)	$	49,310
Weighted average common shares outstanding:
Basic	95,532			73,149			41,001			37,537			37,537
Diluted	95,532			73,149			41,001			37,537			37,537
Earnings (loss) per share:
Basic
Income (loss) from continuing operations	$	(0.88	)	$	(0.62	)	$	(1.35	)	$	(3.78	)	$	1.31
Income (loss) from discontinued operations	$	(0.25	)	$	—		$	—		$	—		$	—
Diluted
Income (loss) from continuing operations	$	(0.88	)	$	(0.62	)	$	(1.35	)	$	(3.78	)	$	1.31
Income (loss) from discontinued operations	$	(0.25	)	$	—		$	—		$	—		$	—

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	As of December 31,
	2011		2010		2009		2008		2007
Consolidated Statements of Financial Condition Data:
Total assets	$	1,535,838	$	1,247,170	$	959,441	$	797,831	$	2,113,532
Total liabilities	922,786		653,568		255,091		182,003		1,430,029
Redeemable non-controlling interests	104,587		144,346		230,825		284,936		203,523
Total Stockholders' Equity	$	508,465	$	449,256	$	473,525	$	330,892	$	479,980

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Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

The following discussion should be read in conjunction with our audited consolidated financial statements and the related notes that appear elsewhere in this Annual Report. In addition to historical information, this discussion includes forward-looking information that involves risks and assumptions, which could cause actual results to differ materially from management's expectations. See "Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Overview

Cowen Group, Inc. is a diversified financial services firm and, together with its consolidated subsidiaries, provides alternative investment management, investment banking, research, market-making and sales and trading services through its two business segments: alternative investment management and broker-dealer. The alternative investment management segment includes hedge funds, replication products, mutual funds, managed futures funds, fund of funds, real estate, healthcare royalty funds, cash management services and mortgage advisory services, offered primarily under the Ramius name. The broker-dealer segment offers industry focused investment banking for growth-oriented companies including advisory and global capital markets origination and domain knowledge-driven research and a sales and trading platform for institutional investors, primarily under the Cowen name.

On November 2, 2009, the transactions contemplated by the Transaction Agreement (the "Transactions"), were consummated including (1) the merger of Lexington Merger Corp. with and into Cowen Holdings, pursuant to which each outstanding share of common stock of Cowen Holdings was converted into one share of Class A common stock of the Company and (2) the transfer by RCG (which prior to the consummation of the Transactions operated the Ramius business) of substantially all of its assets and liabilities to Park Exchange LLC in exchange for the Company's issuance to RCG of 37,536,826 shares of Class A common stock of the Company. Following the consummation of the Transactions, each of Park Exchange LLC and Cowen Holdings became wholly owned subsidiaries of the Company, and Park Exchange LLC was renamed Ramius LLC. Prior to the consumption of the Transactions, the Company conducted its operations through one reportable segment, the alternative investment management segment.

Our alternative investment management business had approximately $10.3 billion of assets under management as of January 1, 2012. The predecessor to this business was founded in 1994 and, through one of its subsidiaries, has been a registered investment adviser under the Investment Advisers Act since 1997. Our alternative investment management products, solutions and services include hedge funds, replication products, mutual funds, managed futures funds, fund of funds, real estate, healthcare royalty funds, cash management services and mortgage advisory services. Our institutional investors include pension funds, insurance companies, banks, foundations and endowments, wealth management organizations and family offices.

Our broker-dealer businesses include research, brokerage and investment banking services to companies and institutional investor clients primarily in the healthcare, technology, media and telecommunications, consumer, aerospace and defense, industrials, real estate investment trusts ("REITs") and alternative energy sectors. We provide research and brokerage services to over 1,000 domestic and international clients seeking to trade securities, principally in our target sectors. Historically, we have focused our investment banking efforts on small to mid-capitalization public companies as well as private companies.

As a result of the previously disclosed acquisition of LaBranche, the consolidated financial statements of the Company, for the year ended December 31, 2011, include LaBranche's operating results from June 28, 2011. These operating results are related to the ETF market making operations and, prior to being discontinued, were included in the Company's broker-dealer segment. Since the Company discontinued the LaBranche operations during the fourth quarter of 2011, these operating results are reported in net income (loss) from discontinued operations, net of tax in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations.

Certain Factors Impacting Our Business

Our alternative investment management business and results of operations are impacted by the following factors:

•

Assets under management. Our revenues from management fees are directly linked to assets under management. As a result, the future performance of our alternative investment management business will depend on, among other things, our ability to retain assets under management and to grow assets under management from existing and new products. In addition, positive performance increases assets under management which results in higher management fees. As previously disclosed, redemptions in Ramius Multi-Strategy Fund Ltd triggered certain contractual rights of affiliates of UniCredit S.p.A (“UniCredit S.p.A”), which would have allowed them to withdraw their assets held in that fund

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upon 30 days notice. Such affiliates of UniCredit S.p.A instead agreed, pursuant to a modification agreement, to extend the time period pursuant to which the Company was required to return the bulk of its assets in our funds to the end of 2010. The Company returned a significant portion of the assets during 2010 and as of December 31, 2011, including redemptions effective on January 1, 2012, we have returned approximately $526.6 million to affiliates of UniCredit S.p.A and these affiliates had a remaining investment of approximately $159.2 million invested in our investment vehicles, including a fund of funds managed account.


•	Investment performance. Our revenues from incentive income are linked to the performance of the funds and accounts that we manage. Performance also affects assets under management because it influences investors' decisions to invest assets in, or withdraw assets from, the funds and accounts managed by us.

•

Fee and allocation rates. Our management fee revenues are linked to the management fee rates we charge as a percentage of assets under management. Our incentive income revenues are linked to the incentive allocation rates we charge as a percentage of performance-driven asset growth. Our incentive allocations are generally subject to “high-water marks,” whereby incentive income is generally earned by us only to the extent that the net asset value of a fund at the end of a measurement period exceeds the highest net asset value as of the end of the earlier measurement period for which we earned incentive income. Our incentive allocations, in some cases, are subject to performance hurdles. As of December 31, 2011, the Global Credit Fund was not above its "high-water mark".

•

Investment performance of our own capital. We invest our own capital and the performance of such invested capital affects our revenues. As of January 1, 2012, we had investments of approximately $125.8 million, $149.7 million and $35.6 million in the Enterprise Fund (an entity which invests its capital in Ramius Enterprise Master Fund Ltd), Cowen Overseas Investment LP (“COIL”) and Ramius Optimum Investments LLC (“ROIL”), respectively. Enterprise Fund is a fund vehicle that currently has external investors, is closed to new investors and is in liquidation. COIL and ROIL are wholly owned entities managed by Ramius that the Company uses solely for the firm's invested capital.

Our broker-dealer business and results of operations are impacted by the following factors:

•

Underwriting, private placement and strategic/financial advisory fees. Our revenues from investment banking are directly linked to the underwriting fees we earn in securities offerings in which the Company acts as an underwriter, private placement fees earned in non-underwritten transactions and success fees earned in connection with advising both buyers and sellers, principally in mergers and acquisitions. As a result, the future performance of our investment banking business will depend on, among other things, our ability to secure lead manager and co-manager roles in clients capital raising transactions as well as our ability to secure mandates as a client's strategic financial advisor.


•	Commissions. We receive commissions from executing customer transactions. Our commission revenues depend for the most part on our customer trading volumes.

•

Principal transactions. Principal transactions revenue includes net trading gains and losses from the Company's market-making activities and net trading gains and losses on inventory and other firm positions. Commissions associated with these transactions are also included herein. In certain cases, the Company provides liquidity to clients buying or selling blocks of shares of listed stocks without previously identifying the other side of the trade at execution, which subjects the Company to market risk.

•

Equity research fees. Equity research fees are paid to the Company for providing equity research. The Company also permits institutional customers to allocate a portion of their commissions to pay for research products and other services provided by third parties. Our ability to generate revenues relating to our equity research depends on the quality of our research and its relevance to our institutional customers and other clients.

External Factors Impacting Our Business

Our financial performance is highly dependent on the environment in which our businesses operate. A favorable business environment is characterized by many factors, including a stable geopolitical climate, transparent financial markets, low inflation, low interest rates, low unemployment, strong business profitability and high business and investor confidence. Unfavorable or uncertain economic or market conditions can be caused by declines in economic growth, business activity or investor or business confidence, limitations on the availability (or increases in the cost of) credit and capital, increases in inflation or interest rates, exchange rate volatility, unfavorable global asset allocation trends, outbreaks of hostilities or other geopolitical instability, corporate, political or other scandals that reduce investor confidence in the capital markets, or a combination of these or other factors. Our businesses and profitability have been and may continue to be adversely affected by market conditions in many ways, including the following:

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•

Our alternative investment management business was affected by the conditions impacting the global financial markets and the hedge fund industry during 2008, which was characterized by substantial declines in investment performance and unanticipated levels of requested redemptions. While the environment for investing in alternative investment products has since improved, the variability of redemptions could continue to affect our alternative investment management business, and it is possible that we could intermittently experience redemptions above historical levels, regardless of fund performance.

•

Our broker-dealer business has been, and may continue to be, adversely affected by market conditions. Increased competition continues to affect our investment banking and capital markets businesses. The same factors also affect trading volumes in secondary financial markets, which affect our brokerage business. Commission rates, market volatility, increased competition from larger financial firms and other factors also affect our brokerage revenues and may cause these revenues to vary from period to period.

•

Our broker-dealer business focuses primarily on small to mid-capitalization and private companies in specific industry sectors. These sectors may experience growth or downturns independent of general economic and market conditions, or may face market conditions that are disproportionately better or worse than those impacting the economy and markets generally. In addition, increased government regulation has had, and may continue to have, a disproportionate adverse effect on capital formation by smaller companies. Therefore, our broker-dealer business could be affected differently than overall market trends.

Our businesses, by their nature, do not produce predictable earnings. Our results in any period can be materially affected by conditions in global financial markets and economic conditions generally. We are also subject to various legal and regulatory actions that impact our business and financial results.

Recent Developments

In January 2012, the Company entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Algorithmic Trading Management, LLC (“ATM”), a provider of global, multi-asset class algorithmic execution trading models. The transaction, which is subject to certain regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions, is expected to close in the second quarter of 2012.

Basis of presentation

The Company's consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America ("US GAAP") as promulgated by the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") through Accounting Standards Codification as the source of authoritative accounting principles in the preparation of financial statements, of the Company appearing in Part IV of this Form 10-K include the accounts of the Company, its subsidiaries, and entities in which the Company has a controlling financial interest or a substantive, controlling general partner interest. All material intercompany transactions and balances have been eliminated in consolidation. Certain fund entities that are consolidated in the consolidated financial statements, are not subject to the consolidation provisions with respect to their own investments pursuant to their specialized accounting.

The Company serves as the managing member/general partner and/or investment manager to affiliated fund entities which it sponsors and manages. Certain of these funds in which the Company has a substantive, controlling general partner interest are consolidated with the Company pursuant to generally accepted accounting principles as described below (the “Consolidated Funds”). Consequently, the Company's consolidated financial statements reflect the assets, liabilities, income and expenses of these funds on a gross basis. The ownership interests in these funds which are not owned by the Company are reflected as redeemable non-controlling interests in consolidated subsidiaries in the consolidated financial statements appearing elsewhere in this Form 10-K. The management fees and incentive income earned by the Company from these funds are eliminated in consolidation.

The November 2009 business combination between Ramius and Cowen Holdings was accounted for under the acquisition method of accounting in according with US GAAP. As a result, the historical financial statements of Ramius (the business of which was operated by RCG Holdings LLC, the Company's accounting predecessor, prior to the consummation of the Transactions) have become the historical financial statements of the Company. As a result, the Company's 2010 results reflect twelve months of combined operations, while 2009 results reflect twelve months of legacy Ramius and two months of legacy Cowen operations.

The June 2011 acquisition of Labranche was accounted for under the acquisition method of accounting in accordance with US GAAP. In this case, the acquisition was accounted for as an acquisition by Cowen of LaBranche. As such, results of operations for LaBranche are included in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations since the date of acquisition, and the assets acquired and liabilities assumed were recorded at their estimated fair values. During the last quarter of 2011, the Company decided to discontinue the subsidiaries acquired through the LaBranche acquisition as the subsidiaries were not

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meeting the Company's expectations as to their results of operations and were not generating positive cash flows.

Revenue recognition

The Company's principal sources of revenue are derived from two segments: an alternative investment management segment and a broker-dealer segment, as more fully described below.

Our alternative investment management segment generates revenue through three principal sources: management fees, incentive income and investment income from our own capital.

Our broker-dealer segment generates revenue through two principal sources: investment banking and brokerage.

Management fees

The Company earns management fees from affiliated funds and certain managed accounts that it serves as the investment manager based on assets under management. The actual management fees received vary depending on distribution fees or fee splits paid to third parties either in connection with raising the assets or structuring the investment.

Management fees are generally paid on a quarterly basis at the beginning of each quarter in arrears and are prorated for capital inflows and redemptions. While some investors may have separately negotiated fees, in general the management fees are as follows:


•	Hedge Funds. Management fees for the Company's hedge funds are generally charged at an annual rate of up to 2% of assets under management. Management fees are generally calculated monthly based on assets under management at the end of each month before incentive income.

•

Alternative Solutions. Management fees for the Alternative Solutions business are generally charged at an annual rate of up to 2% of assets under management. Management fees are generally calculated monthly based on assets under management at the end of each month before incentive income or based on assets under management at the beginning of the month. Management fees earned from the Alternative Solutions business are based and initially calculated on estimated net asset values and actual fees ultimately earned could be impacted to the extent of any changes in these estimates.

•

Real Estate Funds. Management fees from the Company's real estate funds are generally charged by their general partners at an annual rate between 1% to 1.5% of total capital commitments during the investment period and of invested capital or net asset value of the applicable fund after the investment period has ended. Management fees are typically paid to the general partners on a quarterly basis, at the beginning of the quarter in arrears, and are prorated for changes in capital commitments throughout the investment period and invested capital after the investment period. The general partners of the Company's real estate funds are owned jointly by the Company and third parties. Accordingly, the management fees (in addition to incentive income and investment income) generated by these real estate funds are split between the Company and the other general partners. Pursuant to US GAAP, these fees and other income received by the general partners that are accounted for under the equity method of accounting and are reflected under net gains (losses) on securities, derivatives and other investments in the consolidated statements of operations.

•

CHRP Funds. During the investment period (as defined in the management agreement of the CHRP Funds), management fees for the CHRP Funds are generally charged at an annual rate of up to 2% of committed capital. After the investment period, management fees are generally charged at an annual rate of up to 2% of assets under management. Management fees for the CHRP Funds are calculated on a quarterly basis.

•

Ramius Trading Strategies. Management fees and platform fees for the Company's private commodity trading advisory business are generally charged at an annual rate of up to 3% and 1.50%, respectively, for the levered vehicle and 1% and 0.50%, respectively, for the unlevered vehicle. In addition, management fees for Ramius Trading Strategies Managed Futures Fund, a mutual fund launched in September 2011, are 1.60% per annum (subject to an overall expense cap of 1.85%). Management and platform fees are generally calculated monthly based on assets under management at the end of each month.


•	Other. The Company also provides other investment advisory services. Other management fees are primarily earned from the Company's cash management business and range from annual rates of 0.04% to 0.20% of assets, based on the average daily balances of the assets under management.

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Incentive income

The Company earns incentive income based on net profits (as defined in the respective investment management agreements) with respect to certain of the Company's funds and managed accounts, allocable for each fiscal year that exceeds cumulative unrecovered net losses, if any, that have carried forward from prior years. For the products we offer, incentive income earned is typically 20% for hedge funds and 10% for fund of funds and alternative solutions products (in certain cases on performance in excess of a benchmark), generally, of the net profits earned for the full year that are attributable to each fee-paying investor. Generally, incentive income on real estate funds is earned after the investor has received a full return of their invested capital, plus a preferred return. However in certain real estate funds, the Company is entitled to receive incentive fees earlier provided that the investors have received their preferred return on a current basis. These funds are subject to a potential clawback of that incentive income upon the liquidation of the fund if the investor has not received a full return of its invested capital plus the preferred return thereon. Incentive income in the CHRP Funds is earned only after investors receive a full return of their capital plus a preferred return.

In periods following a period of a net loss attributable to an investor, the Company generally does not earn incentive income on any future profits attributable to that investor until the accumulated net loss from prior periods is recovered, an arrangement commonly referred to as a “high-water mark.” The Company has elected to record incentive income revenue in accordance with “Method 2” of the US GAAP. Under Method 2, the incentive income from the Company's funds and managed accounts for any period is based upon the net profits of those funds and managed accounts at the reporting date. Any incentive income recognized in the consolidated statement of operations may be subject to reversal based on subsequent negative performance of the funds prior to the conclusion of the fiscal year, when all contingencies have been resolved.

Carried interest in the real estate funds is subject to clawback to the extent that the carried interest actually distributed to date exceeds the amount due to the Company based on cumulative results. As such, the accrual for potential repayment of previously received carried interest, which is a component of accounts payable, accrued expenses and other liabilities, represents all amounts previously distributed to the Company, less an assumed tax liability, that would need to be repaid to certain real estate funds if these funds were to be liquidated based on the current fair value of the underlying funds' investments as of the reporting date. The actual clawback liability does not become realized until the end of a fund's life.

Investment Banking

The Company earns investment banking revenue primarily from fees associated with public and private capital raising transactions and providing strategic advisory services. Investment banking revenues are derived primarily from small and mid-capitalization companies within the Company's target sectors of healthcare, technology, media and telecommunications, consumer, aerospace and defense, industrials, REITs and alternative energy.

Investment banking revenue consists of underwriting fees, strategic/financial advisory fees and private placement fees.

•

Underwriting fees. The Company earns underwriting revenues in securities offerings in which the Company acts as an underwriter, such as initial public offerings, follow-on equity offerings, debt offerings, and convertible security offerings. Underwriting revenues include management fees, selling concessions and underwriting fees. Fee revenue relating to underwriting commitments is recorded when all significant items relating to the underwriting process have been completed and the amount of the underwriting revenue has been determined. This generally is the point at which all of the following have occurred: (i) the issuer's registration statement has become effective with the SEC, or the other offering documents are finalized; (ii) the Company has made a firm commitment for the purchase of securities from the issuer; and (iii) the Company has been informed of the number of securities that it has been allotted.

When the Company is not the lead manager for an underwriting transaction, management must estimate the Company's share of transaction-related expenses incurred by the lead manager in order to recognize revenue. Transaction-related expenses are deducted from the underwriting fee and therefore reduce the revenue the Company recognizes as co-manager. Such amounts are adjusted to reflect actual expenses in the period in which the Company receives the final settlement, typically within 90 days following the closing of the transaction.

•

Strategic/financial advisory fees. The Company's strategic advisory revenues include success fees earned in connection with advising companies, principally in mergers and acquisitions and liability management transactions. The Company also earns fees for related advisory work such as providing fairness opinions. The Company records strategic advisory revenues when the services for the transactions are completed under the terms of each assignment or engagement and collection is reasonably assured. Expenses associated with such transactions are deferred until the related revenue is recognized or the engagement is otherwise concluded.


•	Private placement fees. The Company earns agency placement fees in non-underwritten transactions such as private placements of debt and equity securities, including, private investment in public equity transactions (“PIPEs”) and

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registered direct offerings. The Company records private placement revenues when the services for the transactions are completed under the terms of each assignment or engagement and collection is reasonably assured. Expenses associated with such transactions are deferred until the related revenue is recognized or the engagement is otherwise concluded.

Brokerage

Brokerage revenue consists of commissions, principal transactions, net and equity research fees.

•

Commissions. Commission revenue includes fees from executing client transactions. These fees are recognized on a trade date basis. The Company permits institutional customers to allocate a portion of their commissions to pay for research products and other services provided by third parties. The amounts allocated for those purposes are commonly referred to as soft dollar arrangements. Commissions on soft dollar brokerage are recorded net of the related expenditures on an accrual basis. During the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009, the Company earned $66.0 million, $69.3 million and $9.3 million of revenues from commissions, respectively.

•

Principal Transactions. Principal transaction, net revenue includes net trading gains and losses from the Company's market-making activities in fixed income and over-the-counter equity securities, listed options trading, trading of convertible securities, and trading gains and losses on inventory and other firm positions, which include warrants previously received as part of investment banking transactions. Commissions associated with these transactions are also included herein. In certain cases, the Company provides liquidity to clients buying or selling blocks of shares of listed stocks without previously identifying the other side of the trade at execution, which subjects the Company to market risk. These positions are typically held for a very short duration. During the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009, the Company earned $27.1 million, $36.1 million and $7.0 million of revenues from principal transactions, net, respectively.

•

Equity Research Fees. Equity research fees are paid to the Company for providing equity research. Revenue is recognized once an arrangement exists, access to research has been provided, the fee amount is fixed or determinable, and collection is reasonably assured. During the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009, the Company earned $6.5 million, $6.8 million and $1.5 million of revenues from equity research fees, respectively.

Interest and dividends

Interest and dividends are earned by the Company from various sources. The Company receives interest and dividends primarily from investments held by its Consolidated Funds and its brokerage balances from invested capital. Interest is recognized on an accrual basis and interest income is recognized on the debt of those issuers that is deemed collectible. Interest income and expense includes premiums and discounts amortized and accreted on debt investments based on criteria determined by the Company using the effective yield method, which assumes the reinvestment of all interest payments. Dividends are recognized on the ex-dividend date.

Reimbursement from affiliates

The Company allocates, at its discretion, certain expenses incurred on behalf of its hedge fund, fund of funds and real estate businesses. These expenses relate to the administration of such subsidiaries and assets that the Company manages for its funds. In addition, pursuant to the funds' offering documents, the Company charges certain allowable expenses to the funds, including charges and personnel costs for legal, compliance, accounting, tax compliance, risk and technology expenses that directly relate to administering the assets of the funds. Such expenses that have been reimbursed at their actual costs are included in the consolidated statements of operations as employee compensation and benefits, professional, advisory and other fees, communications, occupancy and equipment, client services and business development and other.

Expenses

The Company's expenses consist of compensation and benefits, interest expense and general, administrative and other expenses.

•

Compensation and Benefits. Compensation and benefits is comprised of salaries, benefits, discretionary cash bonuses and equity-based compensation. Annual incentive compensation is variable, and the amount paid is generally based on a combination of employees' performance, their contribution to their business segment, and the Company's performance. Generally, compensation and benefits comprise a significant portion of total expenses, with annual incentive compensation comprising a significant portion of total compensation and benefits expenses.


•	Interest and Dividends. Interest and dividends expense relates primarily to interest on our credit facility (which was

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fully repaid and terminated in June 2011) in addition to increased trading activity with respect to the Company's investments.


•	General, Administrative and Other. General, administrative and other expenses are primarily related to professional services, occupancy and equipment, business development expenses, communications, insurance and other miscellaneous expenses. These expenses may also include certain one-time charges and non-cash expenses.


•	Consolidated Funds Expenses. Certain funds are consolidated by the Company pursuant to US GAAP. As such, the Company's consolidated financial statements reflect the expenses of these consolidated entities and the portion attributable to other investors is allocated to a redeemable non-controlling interest.

Income Taxes

The taxable results of the Company's U.S. operations are subject to U.S. federal, state and city taxation as a corporation. The Company is also subject to foreign taxation on income it generates in certain countries.

The Company records deferred tax assets and liabilities for the future tax benefit or expense that will result from differences between the carrying value of its assets for income tax purposes and for financial reporting purposes, as well as for operating or capital loss and tax credit carryovers. A valuation allowance is recorded to bring the net deferred tax assets to a level that, in management's view, is more likely than not to be realized in the foreseeable future. This level will be estimated based on a number of factors, especially the amount of net deferred tax assets of the Company that are actually expected to be realized, for tax purposes, in the foreseeable future. As of December 31, 2011, the Company recorded a valuation allowance against substantially all of its net deferred tax assets.

As of December 31, 2011, the Company recorded tax receivables resulting from refund claims resulting from the carry back of net operating losses to the Company's 2006 tax return.

Redeemable Non-controlling Interests

Redeemable non-controlling interests represent the pro rata share of the income or loss of the non-wholly owned consolidated entities attributable to the other owners of such entities. Due to the fact that the non-controlling interests are redeemable at the option of the holder they have been classified as temporary equity.

Assets Under Management and Fund Performance

Assets Under Management

Assets under management refer to all of our alternative investment management products, solutions and services including hedge funds, replication products, mutual funds, managed futures funds, fund of funds, real estate, healthcare royalty funds, cash management services and mortgage advisory services. Assets under management also include the fair value of assets we manage pursuant to separately managed accounts, collateralized debt obligations for which we are the collateral manager, and, as indicated in the footnotes to the table below, proprietary assets which the Company has invested in these products. Also, as indicated, assets under management for certain products represent committed capital and certain products where the Company owns a portion of the general partners.

As of January 1, 2012, the Company had assets under management of $10.3 billion, an 10.7% increase as compared to assets under management of $9.3 billion as of December 31, 2010. The $1.0 billion increase in assets under management during the year ended 2011 resulted from $1.1 billion in net subscriptions (this includes total redemptions during the year ended December 31, 2011, and redemptions effective on January 1, 2012, of $187.0 million, which represents assets returned to investors as a result of closing the Ramius Multi-Strategy and Ramius Enterprise funds and the return of assets to UniCredit pursuant to the terms of Modification Agreement), partially offset by a $76.6 million performance-related decrease in assets under management.

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The following table is a breakout of total assets under management by platform as of January 1, 2012.



Platform	Total Assets under Management		Primary Strategies
	(dollars in millions)

Hedge Funds (1)	1,918	(2)	Multi-Strategy
			Single Strategy

Alternative Solutions (3)	1,894		Multi-Strategy
			Single Strategy
			Customized Solutions
			Hedging Strategies

	855		Advisory

Ramius Trading Strategies (4)	262		Commodity Trading Advisory

Real Estate (1)	1,628	(7)	Debt
			Equity

Cowen Healthcare Royalty Partners (5)	1,473	(7)	Royalty Interests

Other (6)	2,235		Cash Management
			Mortgage Advisory
Total	10,265


(1)	The Company owns between 30% and 55% of the general partners of the real estate business and of the activist business (one of the single strategy hedge funds). We do not possess unilateral control over any of these general partners.


(2)	This amount includes the Company's invested capital of approximately $125.8 million as of January 1, 2012.


(3)	This amount includes the Company's invested capital of approximately $5.2 million as of January 1, 2012.


(4)	This amount includes three funds: RTS Global Fund, LP, RTS Global 3X Funds, LP, Ramius Trading Strategies Managed Futures Fund. This amount includes the Company's invested capital of approximately $22.3 million (which includes the notional amount of the Company's investment in RTS Global 3X Fund LP) as of January 1, 2012.


(5)	The Company shares the management fees from the CHRP Funds equally with the founders of the CHRP Funds. In addition, the Company receives a share of the carried interests of the general partners of the CHRP Funds of between 27% and 40.2%.


(6)	The Company's cash management services business provides clients with investment guidelines for managing cash and establishes investment programs for managing their cash in separately managed accounts. The Company also provides mortgage advisory services where the Company manages collateralized debt obligations held by investors.


(7)	This amount reflects committed capital.

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The following table presents total assets under management by period



				Year ended December 31,
	January 1, 2012			Year ended December 31,
	January 1, 2012			2011			2010		2009				2008
				(dollars in thousands)
Beginning Assets under Management	$	10,347,173		$	9,276,278		$	8,313,638	$	9,765,230			$	12,900,355
Net Subscriptions (Redemptions)	(81,680		)	1,147,447			812,555		(1,780,117		)	(2)	(1,066,714		)
Net Performance(1)	—			(76,552		)	150,085		328,525				(2,068,411		)
Ending Assets under Management	$	10,265,493		$	10,347,173		$	9,276,278	$	8,313,638			$	9,765,230


(1)	Net performance is net of all management and incentive fees and includes the effect of any foreign exchange translation adjustments and leverage in certain funds.


(2)	Net redemptions for 2009 include $807 million of capital commitments to the CHRP Funds that were part of Cowen Holdings prior to the Transactions.

Fund Performance

In hindsight, 2011 proved to be challenging for investors in risk assets across multiple global markets. In the fourth quarter, a number of overriding macro concerns that had been weighing on the markets remained in place. These concerns included softening global growth and rising industrial commodity prices, the unresolved European debt crisis, tensions in the Middle East and political inaction in the U.S. regarding the country's current deficit, increasing debt burden and employment rate. However, the “risk on, risk off” approach that dominated investor activity throughout 2011 reversed course after a weak third quarter and adopted a “risk on” position to close out the year. As one example, following a double- digit decline in the S&P 500 during the third quarter, U.S. equities rallied to have the index close out the year unchanged. Final results for the entire year often masked the day-to-day and week-to-week volatility experienced in many major markets and asset classes, including high yield debt, leveraged loans and real assets such as crude oil. Fourth quarter results also masked to some degree one of the more troubling aspects of global market activity during 2011- that of a substantial deterioration in liquidity. The lack of liquidity was evidenced in multiple asset classes, but was especially true in the fixed income markets at various points in time throughout the year. As was stated in the previous quarter's report, trading liquidity was often reminiscent of the fourth quarter of 2008, with the added pressure of liquidity providers aggressively withdrawing capital. Economic, regulatory and market uncertainties all contributed to recurrent spikes in both price volatility and correlation across multiple asset classes.

Ramius investment vehicles had varying results within the fourth quarter, but those funds that we would expect to participate in a recovery in risk assets did so. As had been the general trend throughout the year, longer-dated investments in real estate continued to benefit from firmer underlying investment valuations, further extending the recovery from the 2009 lows. More liquid but specialized funds investing in the equity and credit markets closed the year with positive fourth quarter performance. The small cap activist funds finished the year substantially ahead of any small cap long-only indices. In long/short corporate credit, third quarter losses had been concentrated within a small group of investments during a period dominated by high volatility and vastly reduced liquidity. Subsequent portfolio modifications led to reduced volatility and a positive result for the final quarter. The global macro and managed futures sectors had modestly negative fourth quarter results, as the sudden reversal in risk appetite during October --to "risk on"--presented challenges to the underlying managers. Prevailing trends were captured later in the fourth quarter of 2011, but not to the degree necessary to overcome October results. The multi-strategy funds maintained their focus on capital preservation, while still executing an opportunistic strategy for the sale of certain assets in order to make distributions to investors. Results were positive for the fourth quarter of 2011, led by an especially strong final month. Customized hedge fund of funds portfolios and client-specific solutions-based portfolios also had satisfactory results.

Invested Capital

The Company invests a significant portion of its capital base to help drive results and facilitate the growth of its alternative investment management and broker/dealer businesses. Management allocates capital to three primary investment categories: (i) trading strategies; (ii) merchant banking investments; and (iii) real estate investments. The Company aims to make strategic and opportunistic investments in varying capital structures across a diverse array of businesses, hedge funds and mutual funds. Much of the Company's trading strategy portfolio is invested along side the Company's alternative investment

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management clients and includes liquid investment strategies such as corporate credit trading, event driven, macro trading, and enhanced cash management. Within its merchant banking investments, management generally takes a long-term view that typically involves investing directly in public and private companies globally, private equity funds and along side its alternative investment management clients. The Company's real estate investment strategy focuses on making investments along side the Company's alternative investment management clients in Ramius managed funds such as the RCG Longview platform, as well as in direct investments in commercial real estate projects.

As of December 31, 2011, the Company's invested capital amounted to a net value $442.1 million (supporting a long market value of $689.1 million), representing approximately 87% of Cowen Group's stockholders' equity presented in accordance with US GAAP. The table below presents the Company's invested equity capital by strategy and as a percentage of Cowen Group's stockholders' equity as of December 31, 2011. The net values presented in the table below do not tie to Cowen Group's consolidated statement of financial condition as of December 31, 2011 because they are included in various line items of the consolidated statement of financial condition, including “securities owned, at fair value”, “other investments”, “cash and cash equivalents”, and “consolidated funds-securities owned, at fair value”.



Strategy	Net Value		% of Stockholders' Equity
	(dollars in millions)

Trading	$	293.8	58%
Merchant Banking	100.0		20%
Real Estate	48.3		9%
Total	442.1		87%
Stockholders' Equity	508.5		100%

The allocations shown in the table above will change over time.

Results of Operations

To provide comparative information of the Company's operating results for the periods presented, a discussion of Economic Income (Loss) of our alternative investment management and broker-dealer segments follows the discussion of our total consolidated US GAAP results. Economic Income (Loss) reflects, on a consistent basis for all periods presented in the Company's consolidated financial statements, income earned from the Company's funds and managed accounts and from its own invested capital. Economic Income (Loss) excludes certain adjustments required under US GAAP. See the section titled “Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations of the Company-Segment Analysis and Economic Income (Loss),” and Note 23 to the Company's consolidated financial statements, appearing elsewhere in this Form 10-K, for a reconciliation of Economic Income (Loss) to total Company US GAAP net income (loss).

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Year Ended December 31, 2011 Compared with the Year Ended December 31, 2010

Consolidated Statements of Operations



	Year ended December 31,						Period to Period
	2011			2010			$ Change			% Change
	(dollars in thousands)
Revenues
Investment banking	$	50,976		$	38,965		$	12,011		31	%
Brokerage	99,611			112,217			(12,606		)	(11	)%
Management fees	52,466			38,847			13,619			35	%
Incentive income	3,265			11,363			(8,098		)	(71	)%
Interest and dividends	22,306			11,547			10,759			93	%
Reimbursement from affiliates	4,322			6,816			(2,494		)	(37	)%
Other revenues	1,583			1,936			(353		)	(18	)%
Consolidated Funds revenues	749			12,119			(11,370		)	(94	)%
Total revenues	235,278			233,810			1,468			1	%
Expenses
Employee compensation and benefits	203,767			194,919			8,848			5	%
Interest and dividends	8,839			8,971			(132		)	(1	)%
General, administrative and other expenses	153,116			127,931			25,185			20	%
Goodwill impairment	7,151			—			7,151			NM
Consolidated Funds expenses	2,782			8,121			(5,339		)	(66	)%
Total expenses	375,655			339,942			35,713			11	%
Other income (loss)
Net gain (loss) on securities, derivatives and other investments	15,128			21,980			(6,852		)	(31	)%
Bargain purchase gain	22,244			—			22,244			NM
Consolidated Funds net gains (losses)	4,395			31,062			(26,667		)	(86	)%
Total other income (loss)	41,767			53,042			(11,275		)	(21	)%
Income (loss) before income taxes	(98,610		)	(53,090		)	(45,520		)	86	%
Income taxes expense (benefit)	(20,073		)	(21,400		)	1,327			(6	)%
Net income (loss) from continuing operations	(78,537		)	(31,690		)	(46,847		)	148	%
Net income (loss) from discontinued operations, net of tax	(23,646		)	—			(23,646		)	NM
Net income (loss)	(102,183		)	(31,690		)	(70,493		)	222	%
Income (loss) attributable to redeemable non-controlling interests in consolidated subsidiaries	5,827			13,727			(7,900		)	(58	)%
Net income (loss) attributable to Cowen Group, Inc. stockholders	$	(108,010	)	$	(45,417	)	$	(62,593	)	138	%

Revenues

Investment Banking

Investment banking revenues increased $12.0 million to $51.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2011 compared with $39.0 million in 2010. During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company completed 29 underwriting transactions, 8 private capital raising transactions, 3 debt capital market transactions and 8 strategic advisory transactions. During the year ended December 31, 2010, the Company completed 31 underwriting transactions, 6 private capital raising transactions and 12 strategic advisory transactions. During 2011, a higher proportion of our deals were lead managed which resulted in higher fees earned per transaction.

Brokerage

Brokerage revenues decreased $12.6 million to $99.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2011 compared with $112.2 million in 2010. The decrease was primarily attributable to lower commission revenues due to a reduction in customer trading volumes. Customer trading volumes across the industry decreased 11% in 2011 compared to 2010.

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Management Fees

Management fees increased $13.6 million to $52.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2011 compared with $38.8 million in 2010. The increase was primarily a result of:

•an increase in management fees for our Healthcare Royalty funds as a result of an increase in committed

capital;

•an increase in management fees associated with our Global Credit fund and other credit managed accounts of

approximately $1.8 million; and

•an increase in management fees for our Ramius Trading Strategies funds, including the launching of our

Ramius Trading Strategies Managed Futures Fund, a mutual fund launched in September 2011, of $0.8

million.

These increases were partially offset by a decrease in fees of $3.6 million as a result of lower assets under management from returning assets to investors in 2011, as a result of closing the Ramius Multi-Strategy Fund and the Enterprise Fund, and the return of assets to, and no longer receiving management fees from certain affiliates of UniCredit S.p.A effective July 1, 2010, pursuant to the terms of the Modification Agreement. The increases were also offset by a decrease in fees of $1.8 million as a result of the spin off of our Value and Opportunity business in the second quarter of 2011.

Incentive Income

Incentive income decreased $8.1 million to $3.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2011, compared with $11.4 million in 2010. The decrease was a result of:

•$4.2 million decrease in performance fees from funds in our alternative solutions business;

•$3.1 million as a result of a spin off of our Value and Opportunity business in the second quarter of 2011; and

•$0.8 million decrease in performance fees in the Global Credit fund.

Interest and Dividends

Interest and dividends increased $10.8 million to $22.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2011 compared with $11.5 million in 2010. The increase was primarily attributable to an increase in interest income resulting from an increased number of investments in interest bearing securities during 2011 as compared to 2010.

Reimbursements from Affiliates

Reimbursements from affiliates decreased $2.5 million to $4.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2011 compared with $6.8 million in 2010. The decrease was attributable to a decrease in assets under management associated with the funds from which the Company receives the majority of its reimbursements.

Other Revenues

Other revenues decreased $0.3 million to $1.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2011 compared with $1.9 million in 2010. The higher amount in 2010 was primarily related to a non recurring investment advisory agreement.

Consolidated Funds Revenues

Consolidated Funds revenues decreased $11.4 million to $0.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2011 compared with $12.1 million in 2010. The decrease was primarily attributable to a decrease in Enterprise Fund's holdings of interest bearing securities due to the unwinding of its investments.

Expenses

Employee Compensation and Benefits

Employee compensation and benefits expenses increased $8.8 million to $203.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2011 compared with $194.9 million in 2010. The increase was primarily attributable to additional stock compensation expense, severance associated with the Company’s expense reduction activities in the broker-dealer business, and investments in new professionals in our investment banking, capital markets and sales and trading businesses. The compensation to revenue ratio was 87% for the twelve months ended December 31, 2011, compared to 83% for the prior year period. The increase in the compensation to revenue ratio resulted from a 5% increase in total compensation offset by only a 1% increase in revenue compared to the prior year end. Average headcount for 2011 increased by 2% from the prior year.

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Interest and Dividends

Interest and dividends expense decreased $0.2 million to $8.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2011 compared with $9.0 million in 2010. Interest and dividends expense relates to interest on our credit facility (which was fully repaid and terminated in June 2011) in addition to increased trading activity with respect to the Company's investments.

General, Administrative and Other Expenses

General, administrative and other expenses increased $25.2 million to $153.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2011 compared with $127.9 million in 2010. The increase was primarily due to:

•professional fees incurred in connection with the closing of and potential future acquisitions of Luxembourg

reinsurance companies;

•transaction costs related to the LaBranche acquisition;

•higher employment agency fee expenses;

•an increase in expenses related to our data center services as we transitioned to a new provider;

•syndication costs related to a capital raise by an alternative investment fund;

•increased usage of market data services;

•recognition, in 2011, of a net $3.6 million expense related to cease-use of the remaining space at 1221

Avenue of America;

•$1.5 million for termination of service contracts;

•an impairment charge related to intangibles in the broker-dealer segment in the amount of $5.2 million.

The increases were partially offset by:


•	a reversal of an accrual pertaining to subordination agreements entered into by the general partners of two real estate funds with those funds' lead investor and


•	a credit to occupancy and equipment expense in 2010 related to a reversal of a previously recorded

unfavorable lease liability at 1221 Avenue of Americas of $5.3 million partially offset by $2.2 million of

depreciation and amortization related to the write-off of certain fixed assets at that location.

Goodwill Impairment

The Company recorded a goodwill impairment charge of $7.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2011. In the fourth quarter of 2011, the Company conducted its annual goodwill impairment test and recognized non-cash impairment to the goodwill associated with the broker dealer segment.

Consolidated Funds Expenses

Consolidated Funds expenses decreased $5.3 million to $2.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2011 compared with $8.1 million in 2010. The decrease was attributable to a decrease in interest expense recognized by the Enterprise Fund due to a decrease in short holdings of interest bearing securities, in connection with the unwinding of its investment portfolio.

Other Income (Loss)

Other income (loss) decreased $11.2 million to $41.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2011 compared with $53.0 million in 2010. The decrease primarily relates to a decrease in the Consolidated Funds' performance of Enterprise Master due to the closing and ongoing wind down of this fund and a decrease in performance of the Company's own invested capital driven by declining performance across certain investment strategies within our investment portfolio, particularly the concentrated public equity, credit, deep value and global macro strategies. This was offset by a $22.2 million bargain purchase gain in relation to the acquisition of LaBranche in June 2011. The gains and losses shown under Consolidated Funds reflect the consolidated total performance for such funds, and the portion of those gains or losses that are attributable to other investors is allocated to a non-controlling interest.

Income Taxes

Income tax benefit decreased $1.3 million to $20.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2011 from $21.4 million in 2010. This was primarily attributable to the lower deferred tax benefits recognized by the Company's Luxembourg subsidiaries.

Net income (loss) from discontinued operations, net of tax

As a result of the LaBranche subsidiaries not meeting the Company's expectations as to their results of operations and not generating positive cash flows, the Company's management decided, during the fourth quarter of 2011, to exit the business

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operated by these subsidiaries. Therefore, the Company reported the results of operations related to these subsidiaries in discontinued operations.

Income (Loss) Attributable to Redeemable Non-controlling Interests

Income (loss) attributable to redeemable non-controlling interests decreased by $7.9 million to $5.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2011 compared with $13.7 million in 2010. The period over period change was the result of an overall decrease in performance of the Consolidated Funds and therefore less allocations of gains/losses to non-controlling interest holders.

Year Ended December 31, 2010 Compared with the Year Ended December 31, 2009

Consolidated Statements of Operations



	Year ended December 31,						Period to Period
	2010			2009			$ Change			% Change
	(dollars in thousands)
Revenues
Investment banking	$	38,965		$	10,557		$	28,408		269	%
Brokerage	112,217			17,812			94,405			530	%
Management fees	38,847			41,694			(2,847		)	(7	)%
Incentive income	11,363			1,911			9,452			495	%
Interest and dividends	11,547			477			11,070			NM
Reimbursement from affiliates	6,816			10,326			(3,510		)	(34	)%
Other revenues	1,936			4,732			(2,796		)	(59	)%
Consolidated Funds revenues	12,119			36,392			(24,273		)	(67	)%
Total revenues	233,810			123,901			109,909			89	%
Expenses
Employee compensation and benefits	194,919			96,592			98,327			102	%
Interest and dividends	8,971			1,601			7,370			460	%
General, administrative and other expenses	127,931			68,217			59,714			88	%
Consolidated Funds expenses	8,121			23,581			(15,460		)	(66	)%
Total expenses	339,942			189,991			149,951			79	%
Other income (loss)
Net gain (loss) on securities, derivatives and other investments	21,980			(2,154		)	24,134			NM
Consolidated Funds net gains (losses)	31,062			20,999			10,063			48	%
Total other income (loss)	53,042			18,845			34,197			181	%
Income (loss) before income taxes	(53,090		)	(47,245		)	(5,845		)	12	%
Income taxes expense (benefit)	(21,400		)	(8,206		)	(13,194		)	161	%
Net income (loss)	(31,690		)	(39,039		)	7,349			(19	)%
Income (loss) attributable to redeemable non-controlling interests in consolidated subsidiaries	13,727			16,248			(2,521		)	(16	)%
Net income (loss) attributable to Cowen Group, Inc. stockholders	$	(45,417	)	$	(55,287	)	$	9,870		(18	)%

Revenues

Investment Banking

Investment banking revenues increased $28.4 million to $39.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2010 compared with $10.6 million in 2009. The 2009 revenues represent the investment banking activity for the period from November 2, 2009 to December 31, 2009, compared to a full year in 2010.

Brokerage

Brokerage revenues increased $94.4 million to $112.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2010 compared with $17.8 million in 2009. The 2009 revenues represent the brokerage activity for the period from November 2, 2009 to December 31, 2009, compared to a full year in 2010.

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Management Fees

Management fees decreased $2.9 million to $38.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2010 compared with $41.7 million in 2009. The decrease was a result of returning assets to investors in 2010, as a result of closing the Ramius Multi-Strategy and Ramius Enterprise funds, and the return of assets to, and no longer charging management fees, to certain affiliates of UniCredit S.p.A effective July 1, 2010, pursuant to the terms of the Modification Agreement. This was partially offset by increases in assets under management in our single-strategy funds.

Incentive Income

Incentive income increased $9.5 million to $11.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2010, compared to $1.9 million in 2009. The incentive income in 2010 is primarily a result of:

•the performance fees related to the Ramius Value and Opportunity Master Fund Ltd surpassing its high-water

marks;

•two fund of funds managed accounts that have also surpassed their high-water marks and hurdles during the

year; and

•the performance of the Ramius Global Credit Master Fund Ltd.

Interest and Dividends

Interest and dividends increased $11.0 million to $11.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2010 compared with $0.5 million in 2009. The increase was primarily attributable to an increase in interest income resulting from an increased number of investments in interest bearing securities during 2010 compared to 2009.

Reimbursements from Affiliates

Reimbursements from affiliates decreased $3.5 million to $6.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2010 compared with $10.3 million in 2009. The decrease was attributable to a decrease in assets under management associated with the funds from which the Company receives the majority of its reimbursements.

Other Revenues

Other revenues decreased $2.8 million to $1.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2010 compared with $4.7 million in 2009. The higher amount in 2009 was primarily related to a $1.9 million one-time legal settlement claim.

Consolidated Funds Revenues

Consolidated Funds revenues decreased $24.3 million to $12.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2010 compared with $36.4 million in 2009. The decrease was primarily attributable to a decrease in Enterprise Fund's holdings of interest bearing securities due to unwinding of its investments.

Expenses

Employee Compensation and Benefits

Employee compensation and benefits expenses increased $98.4 million to $194.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2010 compared with $96.6 million in 2009. The increase was due to the impact of including two months of compensation and benefits expense associated with the legacy Cowen Holdings business in 2009 compared with twelve months in 2010, partially offset by lower accruals for incentive compensation and lower base salaries and benefit expense associated with a reduction in head count in 2010 compared to 2009.

Interest and Dividends

Interest and dividends expense increased $7.4 million to $9.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2010 compared with $1.6 million in 2009. Interest and dividends expense relates to interest on our credit facility in addition to increased trading activity with respect to the Company's investments.

General, Administrative and Other Expenses

General, administrative and other expenses increased $59.7 million to $127.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2010 compared with $68.2 million in 2009. The increase was due to the impact of including two months of general, administrative and other expense associated with the legacy Cowen Holdings business during 2009 compared with twelve months of 2010, or $62.2 million, partially offset by implementing approximately $2.5 million of cost savings related to the integration of systems and facilities related to the Transactions.

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Consolidated Funds Expenses

Consolidated Funds expenses decreased $15.5 million to $8.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2010 compared with $23.6 million in 2009. The decrease was attributable to a decrease in interest expense recognized by the Enterprise Fund due to a decrease in short holdings of interest bearing securities, due to the unwinding of its investment portfolio.

Other Income (Loss)

Other income (loss) increased $34.2 million to $53.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2010 compared with $18.8 million in 2009. This primarily relates to an increase of $24.1 million in the performance of the Company's directly owned traded invested capital. In addition, the increase in consolidated funds net gains (losses) of $10.1 million was primarily attributable to the performance of RTS Global 3X Fund LP, which was consolidated by the Company in the first quarter of 2010 and a decrease in net losses from derivative activities in the Enterprise Fund. This was partially offset by the decrease in the performance of certain of Ramius consolidated multi-strategy funds and the Enterprise Fund due to the closing and ongoing wind down of these funds in 2010. The gains and losses shown under Consolidated Funds reflect the consolidated total performance for such funds, and the portion of those gains or losses that are attributable to other investors is allocated to a non-controlling interest.

Income Taxes

Income tax benefit increased $13.2 million to $21.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2010 from $8.2 million in 2009. The Company's tax benefit increased primarily due to a $16.2 million increase in deferred tax benefits recorded pursuant to an Advance Tax Agreement upon the acquisition, by a consolidated subsidiary of the Company as part of a reinsurance service program, of Luxembourg reinsurance companies that carry deferred tax liabilities; partially offset by the recognition in 2009 of a $2.0 million benefit related to net operating loss carryback claims and $0.6 million of higher foreign taxes recorded by the Company's foreign subsidiaries resulting from increased pre-tax income, during 2010.

Income (Loss) Attributable to Redeemable Non-controlling Interests

Income (loss) attributable to redeemable non-controlling interests decreased by $2.5 million to $13.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2010 compared with $16.2 million in 2009. The period over period change was the result of an decrease in performance in the Consolidated Funds, primarily driven by Enterprise Master which has been in the process of closing and other consolidated multi strategy funds in wind down during 2010.

Segment Analysis and Economic Income (Loss)

Segments

Prior to the consummation of the Transactions, the Company conducted its operations through one reportable segment, the alternative investment management segment, which provides management services to its hedge funds, fund of funds, real estate and other investment platforms. Following the combination of Ramius and Cowen Holdings in 2009, the Company has conducted its operations through two segments: an alternative investment management segment and a broker-dealer segment. The Company's alternative investment management segment currently includes its hedge funds, replication products, managed futures funds, fund of funds, real estate, cash management services, and mortgage advisory services and other investment platforms businesses, as well as CHRP, which was a legacy Cowen Group operating business prior to the Transactions. The Company's broker-dealer segment currently includes its investment banking, brokerage and equity research businesses. The consolidated financial results of the Company for the year ended December 31, 2011 excludes LaBranche's operating results related to its ETF market-making business from the date of acquisition since these results are determined to be discontinued operations and excluded from economic income.

Economic Income (Loss)

The performance measure used by the Company for each segment is Economic Income (Loss), which management uses to evaluate the financial performance of and make operating decisions for the firm as a whole and each segment. Accordingly, management assesses its business by analyzing the performance of each segment and believes that investors should review the same performance measure that it uses to analyze its segment and business performance. In addition, management believes that Economic Income (Loss) is helpful to gain an understanding of its segment results of operations because it reflects such results on a consistent basis for all periods presented.

Our Economic Income (Loss) may not be comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies. We use Economic Income (Loss) as a measure of each segment's operating performance, not as a measure of liquidity. Economic Income (Loss) should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for operating income, net income, operating cash flows, investing and financing activities, or other income or cash flow statement data prepared in accordance with US GAAP. As a

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result of the adjustments made to arrive at Economic Income (Loss), Economic Income (Loss) has limitations in that it does not take into account certain items included or excluded under US GAAP, including our Consolidated Funds. Economic Income (Loss) is considered by management as a supplemental measure to the US GAAP results to provide a more complete understanding of each segment's performance as measured by management. For a reconciliation of Economic Income (Loss) to US GAAP net income (loss) for the periods presented and additional information regarding the reconciling adjustments discussed above, see Note 23 to the Company's consolidated financial statements included in this 10-K.

In general, Economic Income (Loss) is a pre-tax measure that (i) eliminates the impact of consolidation for consolidated funds, (ii) excludes equity award expense related to the November 2009 Ramius/Cowen transaction, (iii) excludes certain other acquisition-related and/or reorganization expenses (including the discontinued operations of LaBranche), (iv) excludes goodwill impairment, and (v) excludes the bargain purchase gain which resulted from the LaBranche acquisition. In addition, Economic Income (Loss) revenues include investment income that represents the income the Company has earned in investing its own capital, including realized and unrealized gains and losses, interest and dividends, net of associated investment related expenses. For US GAAP purposes, these items are included in each of their respective line items. Economic Income revenues also include management fees, incentive income and investment income earned through the Company's investment as a general partner in certain real estate entities. For US GAAP purposes, all of these items are recorded in other income (loss). In addition, Economic Income (Loss) expenses are reduced by reimbursement from affiliates, which for US GAAP purposes is presented gross as part of revenue.

Economic Income Revenues

The Company's principal sources of Economic Income revenues are derived from activities in the following business segments:

Our alternative investment management segment generates Economic Income revenues through three principal sources: management fees, incentive income and investment income from our own capital. Management fees are directly impacted by any increase or decrease in assets under management, while incentive income is impacted by our funds' performance and any increase or decrease in assets under management. Investment income from the Company's own capital is impacted by the performance of the funds and other securities in which our capital is invested. The Company periodically receives other Economic Income revenue which is unrelated to our own invested capital or our activities on behalf of the Company's funds.

Our broker-dealer segment generates Economic Income revenues through two principal sources: investment banking and brokerage. The Company earns investment banking revenue primarily from fees associated with public and private capital raising transactions and providing strategic advisory services. Investment banking revenues are derived primarily from small and mid-capitalization companies within the Company's target sectors of healthcare, technology, media and telecommunications, consumer, aerospace and defense, industrials, REITs and alternative energy. The Company's brokerage revenues consist of commissions, principal transactions and fees paid for equity research. Management reviews brokerage revenue on a combined basis as the vast majority of the revenue is derived from the same group of clients. The Company derives its brokerage revenue primarily from trading equity and equity-linked securities on behalf of institutional investors. The majority of the Company's trading gains and losses are a result of activities that support the facilitation of client orders in both listed and over-the-counter securities, although all trading gains and losses are recorded in brokerage in the consolidated statement of operations.

Economic Income Expenses

The Company's Economic Income expenses consist of compensation and benefits, non-compensation expenses—fixed and non-compensation expenses—variable, less reimbursement from affiliates.

Non-controlling Interests

Non-controlling interests represent the pro rata share of the income or loss of the non-wholly owned consolidated entities attributable to the other owners of such entities. The non-wholly-owned entity included is Cowen Healthcare Royalty Management, LLC.

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Year Ended December 31, 2011 Compared with the Year Ended December 31, 2010

For the years ended December 31, 2011 and 2010, the Company's alternative investment management segment includes hedge funds, replication products, mutual funds, managed futures fund, fund of funds, real estate, healthcare royalty funds, cash management and mortgage advisory services, CHRP's operating results and other investment platforms operating results.

For the years ended December 31, 2011 and 2010, the Company's broker-dealer segment includes investment banking, research and brokerage businesses' operating results.



	Year ended December 31,
	2011									2010									Total Period-to-Period
	Alternative Investment Management						Total 2011			Alternative Investment Management						Total 2010			Total Period-to-Period
	Alternative Investment Management			Broker-Dealer			Total 2011			Alternative Investment Management			Broker-Dealer			Total 2010			$ Change			% Change
	(dollars in thousands)
Economic Income Revenues
Investment banking	$	—		$	50,976		$	50,976		$	—		$	38,965		$	38,965		$	12,011		31	%
Brokerage	—			99,611			99,611			—			112,217			112,217			(12,606		)	(11	)%
Management fees	67,309			—			67,309			51,440			—			51,440			15,869			31	%
Incentive income (loss)	10,366			—			10,366			9,615			—			9,615			751			8	%
Investment income (loss)	39,149			2,198			41,347			59,638			(221		)	59,417			(18,070		)	(30	)%
Other revenues	622			(7		)	615			932			7			939			(324		)	(35	)%
Total economic income revenues	117,446			152,778			270,224			121,625			150,968			272,593			(2,369		)	(1	)%
Economic Income Expenses
Compensation and benefits	50,838			143,970			194,808			58,831			127,062			185,893			8,915			5	%
Non-compensation expenses—Fixed	34,138			69,778			103,916			29,228			64,255			93,483			10,433			11	%
Non-compensation expenses—Variable	17,085			24,412			41,497			7,338			27,022			34,360			7,137			21	%
Reimbursement from affiliates	(4,602		)	—			(4,602		)	(7,315		)	—			(7,315		)	2,713			(37	)%
Total economic income expenses	97,459			238,160			335,619			88,082			218,339			306,421			29,198			10	%
Net economic income (loss) (before non-controlling interest)	19,987			(85,382		)	(65,395		)	33,543			(67,371		)	(33,828		)	(31,567		)	93	%
Non-controlling interest	(6,042		)	—			(6,042		)	(1,759		)	—			(1,759		)	(4,283		)	243	%
Economic income (loss)	$	13,945		$	(85,382	)	$	(71,437	)	$	31,784		$	(67,371	)	$	(35,587	)	$	(35,850	)	101	%

Economic Income Revenues

Total economic income revenues were $270.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2011, a decrease of $2.4 million compared to economic income revenues of $272.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2010. For purposes of the following section all references to revenue refer to economic income revenues.

Alternative Investment Management Segment

Alternative investment management segment economic income revenues was $117.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2011, a decrease of $4.2 million compared to economic income revenues of $121.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2010.

Management Fees. Management fees for the segment increased $15.9 million to $67.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2011 compared with $51.4 million for 2010. The increase was a result of:

•an increase in management fees for our Healthcare Royalty funds as a result of an increase in committed

capital;

•an increase in management fees associated with our Global Credit fund and other credit managed accounts of

approximately $1.8 million; and

•an increase in management fees for both our real estate funds and our Ramius Trading Strategies funds,

including the launching of our Ramius Trading Strategies Managed Futures Fund, a mutual fund launched in

September 2011, of $1.6 million and $1 million, respectively.

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These increases were partially offset by a decrease in fees of $4.9 million as a result of lower assets under management from returning assets to investors in 2011, as a result of closing the Ramius Multi-Strategy Fund and the Enterprise Fund, and the return of assets to, and no longer charging management fees from certain affiliates of UniCredit S.p.A effective July 1, 2010, pursuant to the terms of the Modification Agreement.

Incentive Income (Loss). Incentive income for the segment increased $0.8 million to $10.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2011 compared to an income of $9.6 million for 2010. The increase in 2011 was primarily the result of a reversal of $6.2 million of previously accrued expenses related to subordination agreements entered into by the general partners of two real estate funds with those funds' lead investor. The increase was partially offset by:

•$4.2 million decrease in performance fees from funds in our alternative solutions business;

•$2.7 million decrease in fees as a result of a spin off of our Value and Opportunity business in the second

quarter of 2011; and

•$0.8 million decrease in performance fees in the Global Credit fund.

Investment Income.