Cowen Secures Former Wells Fargo Employee William Bassin as a Director

Cowen Inc, a diversified financial services firm that provides sales, trading and prime brokerage services, announced on Monday that it has added William Bassin to its prime services unit. In his new role, Bassin has joined the capital introduction team as a director.

Cowen’s prime services unit provides prime brokerage, outsourced trading and capital introduction services to investment managers. Bassin joins the firm from Wells Fargo Securities where he worked for four years. Here, he was a member of the capital introduction team. In this position, he worked closely with hedge fund managers and investors and was responsible for fostering institutional investor relationships.

In the investment industry, Bassin has years of experience. At Cowen, he will help the firm expand into the alternative investor space. He will also work with prime brokerage and outsourced trading clients to help them raise their capital.

Cowen to expand into the alternative investor space

Commenting on his new position, Bassin said: “I am excited to join the Cowen team and build on its investor oriented approach and value-added services for both investment managers and institutional allocators. I’m looking forward to helping Cowen’s clients grow their businesses while introducing manager and investor relationships to Cowen’s wide range of resources.”

Before Wells Fargo, Bassin worked in prime brokerage and capital introduction at Lehman Brothers and UBS Securities. He has also held investment, research and asset raising positions at numerous companies such as Auda Hedge, The Museum of Modern Art Endowment, and UBP Asset Management.

Jack Seibald, Managing Director and Global Co-Head of Prime Brokerage and Outsourced Trading, added: “Bill is a terrific addition to Cowen’s team. He brings a wealth of relevant experience with both hedge fund managers and allocators that fits very well with our capital introduction philosophy and our efforts to further extend Cowen’s reach in the alternative investment space.

His unique background in investment allocation and manager research, combined with his capital introduction experience, is a perfect complement to our existing business strategy and the message we articulate to our clients. Cowen’s global capital introduction team continues to grow and now has professionals located in New York, Stamford, Dallas, and London.”

Not only does Bassin have professional experience, he also has a number of educational qualifications to his name. This includes an MBA from Columbia Business School, a JD from Emory University School of Law, and a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Dartmouth College, all with honours. Over the past 13 years, Bassin has also been an Adjunct Professor of Financial Management at New York University.