Investments
191Portfolio Exits
83Funds
5Partners & Customers
10About Cowen
Cowen (NASDAQ: COWN) is a financial services firm providing alternative investment management, investment banking, research, and sales and trading services. Its alternative investment management products include hedge funds, real estate, healthcare royalty funds, and cash management. It was founded in 1918 and is based in New York, New York. In February 2023, Cowen was acquired by TD Bank Group.3B.

Want to inform investors similar to Cowen about your company?
Submit your Analyst Briefing to get in front of investors, customers, and partners on CB Insights’ platform.
Latest Cowen News
Sep 14, 2023
JHVEPhoto/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Cowen started off coverage on BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings (NYSE: BJ ) with a Buy rating on Thursday. The firm's bullish thesis includes an outlook for BJ's ( BJ ) of market share gains through digital differentiation, membership growth across a wealthier & younger demographic, and gross margin expansion fuel by an assortment transformation. Analyst Oliver Chen and team said they like BJ's ( BJ ) wholistic approach to club membership engagement which incorporates digital analytics and a complete basket value proposition with strong appeal to a younger demographic. Cowen model high single-digit long-term EPS growth on low single-digit comparable sales growth and consistent growth from the young base of 238 stores. The firm noted key differences from Costco ( COST ) in terms of more full basket trips, a higher concentration of stores in the eastern parto of the U.S. club concentration, stronger digital penetration, and slightly younger and wealthier members. BJ's ( BJ ) estimated 9% long-term growth rate is above Costco's estimated growth rate of 8%. Valuation on BJ's ( BJ ) is called compelling and Cowen's price target of $80 works out to 20X the FY2 PE backed by a 10-year discounted cash flow of 7% WACC and 3% to 4% terminal growth rate. Shares of BJ's ( BJ ) were up 3.85% at 2:45 p.m. on above-average volume. The stock has recovered more than 12% since dipping to around a $60 handle in June. Short interest on BJ's ( BJ ) is 7.23% of total float, which is a higher percentage than the short bets on Costco ( COST ), PriceSmart ( PSMT ), and Target ( TGT ).
Cowen Investments
191 Investments
Cowen has made 191 investments. Their latest investment was in TORL BioTherapeutics as part of their Series B on April 4, 2023.

Cowen Investments Activity

Date | Round | Company | Amount | New? | Co-Investors | Sources |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
4/13/2023 | Series B | TORL BioTherapeutics | $158M | Yes | 2 | |
11/28/2022 | Series C | Escient Pharmaceuticals | $120M | No | 7 | |
10/6/2022 | Series A | Nested Therapeutics | $90M | Yes | 13 | |
9/13/2022 | Series C | |||||
9/8/2022 | Series C |
Date | 4/13/2023 | 11/28/2022 | 10/6/2022 | 9/13/2022 | 9/8/2022 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Round | Series B | Series C | Series A | Series C | Series C |
Company | TORL BioTherapeutics | Escient Pharmaceuticals | Nested Therapeutics | ||
Amount | $158M | $120M | $90M | ||
New? | Yes | No | Yes | ||
Co-Investors | |||||
Sources | 2 | 7 | 13 |
Cowen Portfolio Exits
83 Portfolio Exits
Cowen has 83 portfolio exits. Their latest portfolio exit was Cowen - Prime Brokerage And Outsourced Trading Business on September 22, 2023.
Date | Exit | Companies | Valuation Valuations are submitted by companies, mined from state filings or news, provided by VentureSource, or based on a comparables valuation model. | Acquirer | Sources |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
9/22/2023 | Divestiture | Cowen - Prime Brokerage And Outsourced Trading Business | 1 | ||
6/13/2023 | Acq - Pending | 3 | |||
5/5/2023 | IPO | Public | 5 | ||
Date | 9/22/2023 | 6/13/2023 | 5/5/2023 | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Exit | Divestiture | Acq - Pending | IPO | ||
Companies | Cowen - Prime Brokerage And Outsourced Trading Business | ||||
Valuation | |||||
Acquirer | Public | ||||
Sources | 1 | 3 | 5 |
Cowen Acquisitions
11 Acquisitions
Cowen acquired 11 companies. Their latest acquisition was Portico Capital Securities on November 23, 2021.
Date | Investment Stage | Companies | Valuation Valuations are submitted by companies, mined from state filings or news, provided by VentureSource, or based on a comparables valuation model. | Total Funding | Note | Sources |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
11/23/2021 | Acq - Fin | 1 | ||||
9/15/2020 | Debt | $0.68M | Acquired | 4 | ||
11/20/2018 | Acquired | 3 | ||||
4/3/2017 | ||||||
3/22/2016 |
Date | 11/23/2021 | 9/15/2020 | 11/20/2018 | 4/3/2017 | 3/22/2016 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Investment Stage | Debt | ||||
Companies | |||||
Valuation | |||||
Total Funding | $0.68M | ||||
Note | Acq - Fin | Acquired | Acquired | ||
Sources | 1 | 4 | 3 |
Cowen Fund History
5 Fund Histories
Cowen has 5 funds, including Cowen Healthcare Investments IV.
Closing Date | Fund | Fund Type | Status | Amount | Sources |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
5/3/2023 | Cowen Healthcare Investments IV | $555.6M | 1 | ||
5/19/2020 | Cowen Healthcare Investments III | ||||
9/24/2019 | CHI EF III | ||||
11/13/2017 | CHI Employee Fund II | ||||
11/13/2017 | Cowen Healthcare Investments II |
Closing Date | 5/3/2023 | 5/19/2020 | 9/24/2019 | 11/13/2017 | 11/13/2017 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fund | Cowen Healthcare Investments IV | Cowen Healthcare Investments III | CHI EF III | CHI Employee Fund II | Cowen Healthcare Investments II |
Fund Type | |||||
Status | |||||
Amount | $555.6M | ||||
Sources | 1 |
Cowen Partners & Customers
10 Partners and customers
Cowen has 10 strategic partners and customers. Cowen recently partnered with MassRobotics on June 6, 2022.
Date | Type | Business Partner | Country | News Snippet | Sources |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
6/18/2022 | Partner | United States | 1 | ||
6/1/2021 | Partner | United States | |||
5/5/2021 | Vendor | United States | TORA OEMS Chosen for Fixed Income by Cowen Outsourced Trading - TORA Chris Jenkins , Managing Director at TORA commented `` We are delighted to have been selected by Cowen . | 1 | |
10/28/2020 | Partner | ||||
2/4/2020 | Partner |
Date | 6/18/2022 | 6/1/2021 | 5/5/2021 | 10/28/2020 | 2/4/2020 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Type | Partner | Partner | Vendor | Partner | Partner |
Business Partner | |||||
Country | United States | United States | United States | ||
News Snippet | TORA OEMS Chosen for Fixed Income by Cowen Outsourced Trading - TORA Chris Jenkins , Managing Director at TORA commented `` We are delighted to have been selected by Cowen . | ||||
Sources | 1 | 1 |
Cowen Team
48 Team Members
Cowen has 48 team members, including current Chief Executive Officer, Peter A. Cohen.
Name | Work History | Title | Status |
---|---|---|---|
Peter A. Cohen | Chief Executive Officer | Current | |
Name | Peter A. Cohen | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Work History | |||||
Title | Chief Executive Officer | ||||
Status | Current |
Compare Cowen to Competitors

FlexTrade provides broker-neutral, multi-asset execution and order management trading solutions. It offers FlexTRADER, a platform for algorithmic trading.
South Street Securities Holdings, through its wholly owned subsidiaries, is a leading provider of U.S. Treasury and Agency repo financing to banks, broker dealers, and other capital market participants. The company is a broker-dealer and FICC member running a matched book portfolio that provides low cost financing for high-grade security positions and a source of secure short-term investment for its customers' excess funds. South Street Securities also provides other servicing, collateral management, technology, and administrative services for banks, broker dealers and other capital market participants.

BTIG specializes in global trading and fund services for hedge funds, mutual funds, separate accounts, and family offices. The company offers products and services across global markets including Equity Trading, Equity Derivatives, Global Portfolio and ETF Trading, Fixed Income, Futures and Commodities, Foreign Exchange, Prime Brokerage, Outsource Trading, Electronic Trading, Strategy & Analytic Resources, Capital Introduction, Corporate Finance, and Commission Management.

Jefferies (NYSE: JEF) is an investment banking and capital markets firm that provides advisory, sales and trading, research, and wealth and asset management services. It offers insights and expertise to investors, companies, and governments. The company was founded in 1962 and is based in New York, New York.

Ediphy is a financial services company. It specializes in market research, data analytics, trade transactions, real-time integrated TCA, and audit trail services. It creates value for our clients by combining modern technology and data analytics with a regulated execution service to deliver results for the investment management community. It brings transparency to fixed-income markets and delivers on best execution. It is based in London, United Kingdom.

Clear Street provides a financial brokerage platform for capital markets. It offers solutions for active trading, capital introduction, clearing and custody, prime financing, and execution. The company was founded in 2018 and is based in New York, New York.