TD Cowen (formerly Cowen Inc.), is an American multinational

investment bank Investment is traditionally defined as the "commitment of resources into something expected to gain value over time". If an investment involves money, then it can be defined as a "commitment of money to receive more money later". From a broade ...

and

financial services Financial services are service (economics), economic services tied to finance provided by financial institutions. Financial services encompass a broad range of tertiary sector of the economy, service sector activities, especially as concerns finan ...

division of TD Securities that operates through two business segments: a

broker-dealer In financial services, a broker-dealer is a natural person, company or other organization that engages in the business of trading securities for its own account or on behalf of its customers. Broker-dealers are at the heart of the securities and ...

and an investment management division. The company's broker-dealer division offers investment banking services, equity and credit research, sales and trading,

prime brokerage Prime brokerage is the generic term for a bundled package of services offered by investment banks, wealth management firms, and securities dealers to hedge funds which need the ability to borrow securities and cash in order to be able to inves ...

, outsourced trading, global clearing and commission management services. Cowen's

investment management Investment management (sometimes referred to more generally as financial asset management) is the professional asset management of various Security (finance), securities, including shareholdings, Bond (finance), bonds, and other assets, such as r ...

segment offers actively managed alternative investment products. Founded in 1918, the firm is headquartered in New York and has offices worldwide. Cowen claims it is known for successfully identifying emerging industries early on, especially the emerging

cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae that is widely accepted as being indigenous to and originating from the continent of Asia. However, the number of species is disputed, with as many as three species be ...

industry. Toronto-Dominion Bank acquired Cowen for US$1.3 billion in March 2023. The company was then rebranded as TD Cowen and became a division of TD Securities.

History

Founded as a bond trading house, Cowen expanded in its early years to include correspondent clearing and execution services. As the firm grew, it developed a leadership position in

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

bonds and launched a

research Research is creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge. It involves the collection, organization, and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness to ...

and institutional sales business. The firm expanded significantly in the 1970s in

and

retail Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is the sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholes ...

, opening six offices from coast-to-coast and expanding its business offerings through acquisitions: Hardy & Company; Greene & Ladd; G.S. Grumman; and McCloy-Watterson & Co., Inc. In the 1980s, Cowen expanded internationally, established an

investment banking Investment banking is an advisory-based financial service for institutional investors, corporations, governments, and similar clients. Traditionally associated with corporate finance, such a bank might assist in raising financial capital by und ...

business, and set up offices in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, and

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

. In the 1990s, the firm grew the

business, beginning with five

initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investm ...

s and follow-ons for approximately $200 million, growing to nearly 80 transactions and $5 billion in proceeds by 1995. In 1998, the company was acquired by Société Générale and renamed SG Cowen. In 2000, Cowen sold its private client services unit to

Lehman Brothers Lehman Brothers Inc. ( ) was an American global financial services firm founded in 1850. Before filing for bankruptcy in 2008, Lehman was the fourth-largest investment bank in the United States (behind Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Merril ...

, retaining its

and

sales and trading Sales and trading is one of the primary front-office divisions of major investment banks. The term is typically reserved for the trading activities done by sell-side investment banks who are primarily engaged in making markets for institutional cl ...

operations. Cowen operated as a unit of Societe Generale until 2006, when it was spun off in an

and renamed itself, Cowen and Company. Cowen, Credit Suisse and Merrill Lynch were joint bookrunners for the public offering. On August 2, 2022, Toronto-Dominion Bank announced it had reached an agreement with Cowen to acquire it for US$1.3billion, translating to $39 per share. TD announced that Cowen chair and CEO Jeffrey Solomon would join the senior leadership of TD's securities division following the acquisition, and that the combined business will be known as TD Cowen, headed by Solomon.

Growth acquisitions

* In 2009, the company merged with Ramius LLC to form a diversified financial services company. * In February 2011, Cowen acquired LaBranche & Co., a market-maker in options,

exchange-traded funds An exchange-traded fund (ETF) is a type of investment fund that is also an exchange-traded product, i.e., it is traded on stock exchanges. ETFs own financial assets such as stocks, Bond (finance), bonds, currencies, debts, futures contracts, and ...

and futures on various exchanges for around $200 million. * In 2012, Cowen acquired Algorithmic Trading Management, a provider of global multi-asset class algorithmic execution trading models, and KDC Securities, a

securities lending In finance, securities lending or stock lending refers to the lending of securities by one party to another. The terms of the loan will be governed by a "Securities Lending Agreement", which requires that the borrower provides the lender with co ...

business. * In March 2013, Cowen acquired Dahlman Rose & Company LLC. * In 2015, Cowen entered the prime services business with the acquisitions of Concept Capital Markets and Conifer Securities. * In 2015, Cowen acquired CRT Capital Group's credit products, credit research, special situations and

emerging markets An emerging market (or an emerging country or an emerging economy) is a market that has some characteristics of a developed market, but does not fully meet its standards. This includes markets that may become developed markets in the future or we ...

businesses. * In 2017, Cowen acquired Convergex, a leading agency-focused

brokerage firm A broker is a person or entity that arranges transactions between a Purchasing, buyer and a sales, seller. This may be done for a commission (remuneration), commission when the deal is executed. A broker who also acts as a seller or as a buyer b ...

and trading services provider whose businesses include: equity sales and an

electronic trading platform In finance, an electronic trading platform, also known as an online trading platform, is a computer software program that can be used to place orders for financial products over a network with a financial intermediary. Various financial products ...

, commission management, global clearing and prime services. * In 2018 Cowen announced the acquisition of Quarton International, a middle-market investment banking firm.

Operations

Cowen and Company

Cowen and Company, founded in 1918, is the broker-dealer business of Cowen Inc. Cowen and Company offers a range of investment banking services, including: equity, equity-linked and debt financing's,

mergers and acquisitions Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of a company, business organization, or one of their operating units is transferred to or consolidated with another entity. They may happen through direct absorpt ...

and advisory services. Cowen and Company also provides proprietary research, including its ''Ahead of the Curve'' series, institutional sales and trading services and prime brokerage. Cowen and Company specializes in growth sectors of the

economy An economy is an area of the Production (economics), production, Distribution (economics), distribution and trade, as well as Consumption (economics), consumption of Goods (economics), goods and Service (economics), services. In general, it is ...

, including:

consumer A consumer is a person or a group who intends to order, or use purchased goods, products, or services primarily for personal, social, family, household and similar needs, who is not directly related to entrepreneurial or business activities. ...

energy Energy () is the physical quantity, quantitative physical property, property that is transferred to a physical body, body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of Work (thermodynamics), work and in the form of heat and l ...

health care Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wikt:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physic ...

, industrials, info tech & services, and technology, media & telecommunications. Business units include: *

Investment Banking Investment banking is an advisory-based financial service for institutional investors, corporations, governments, and similar clients. Traditionally associated with corporate finance, such a bank might assist in raising financial capital by und ...

Research Research is creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge. It involves the collection, organization, and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness to ...

* Markets *Prime Services

Cowen Investment Management

Cowen Investment Management, founded in 1994 as Ramius, by Peter Cohen, Jeff Solomon, Morgan Stark, and Tom Strauss, is the global

alternative investment An alternative investment, also known as an alternative asset or alternative investment fund (AIF), is an investment in any Asset classes, asset class excluding capital stocks, Bond (finance), bonds, and cash. The term is a relatively loose ...

management business of Cowen Inc. Cowen Investment Management offers a range of

strategies including private

, health care royalties, real estate, activism, merger and long/short equity, and growth equity. Cowen Investment Management oversees $11 billion in assets under management as of Q1/2018.

References

External links

* {{authority control, state=expanded Investment banks in the United States Financial services companies established in 1918 Banks established in 1918 Banks based in New York City Companies formerly listed on the Nasdaq 2006 initial public offerings 1918 establishments in New York (state) 2023 mergers and acquisitions Toronto-Dominion Bank