TWPG Thomas Weisel Prtns Grp (MM)

Thomas Weisel Partners Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: TWPG), a global growth-focused investment bank, today announced that Robert E. Grady was elected to the firm's Board of Directors effective September 22, 2009. With Mr. Grady's addition, the firm's Board of Directors increases to eight members including seven independent directors.

"I have known Bob for over 20 years and could not be more excited to have an industry leader of Bob's caliber join our Board. With Bob's venture capital experience developed at both Carlyle and as Chairman of the National Venture Capital Association, as well as his extensive capital markets and M&A expertise, Bob will be a key advisor as we continue to refine our strategy and position the firm for future growth," said Thomas W. Weisel, Chairman and CEO of Thomas Weisel Partners.

"I have great respect for TWP, its people and its mission of serving growth companies. As a board member, I look forward to contributing my experience in financing emerging growth companies as both an investment banker and venture capitalist to helping the firm grow its business. I believe that TWP, as a champion of and expert in growth, has a fantastic opportunity in today's market," stated Bob Grady.

Mr. Grady served for the past nine years as a partner at The Carlyle Group, one of the world's largest private equity firms, where he was Chairman and Managing Partner of Carlyle Venture Partners, the firm's U.S. venture and growth capital organization. Mr. Grady joined Carlyle in 2000 as global head of Venture Capital and served as a Member of Carlyle's Management Committee. Mr. Grady served as Chairman of the National Venture Capital Association's Board of Directors from 2006 - 2007, having joined the Board of Directors in 2002. Prior to joining Carlyle, Mr. Grady was a Managing Director and member of the Management Committee at Robertson Stephens. Mr. Grady previously served in the White House as Deputy Assistant to President George H.W. Bush and as Executive Associate Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Mr. Grady also served for a decade on the faculty of the Stanford Graduate School of Business where he taught courses on environmental policy and regulation. Mr. Grady is also a Director of AuthenTec, Inc. (NASDAQ: AUTH), Maxim Integrated Products (NASDAQ: MXIM) and several privately-held companies.

Additional changes to the Board include the appointments of Matthew R. Barger as Lead Director of the Board and Alton F. Irby as Chairman of the Compensation Committee, who is replacing Mr. Barger in this capacity.

Mr. Barger is currently a Senior Advisor to Hellman & Friedman, a private equity firm, where he spent more than 20 years holding positions including Chairman of the Investment Committee and Managing General Partner. Mr. Barger is a Director of a number of investment advisory firms, including Hall Capital Partners. Mr. Irby is a founding partner of London Bay Capital, a privately held investment firm, and is the Chairman of ContentFilm and a Director of McKesson Corporation. Throughout Mr. Irby's career he has spent 25 years in investment banking in London.

About Thomas Weisel Partners Group, Inc.

Thomas Weisel Partners Group, Inc. is an investment bank, founded in 1998, focused principally on the growth sectors of the economy. Thomas Weisel Partners generates revenues from three principal sources: investment banking, brokerage and asset management. The investment banking group is comprised of two disciplines: corporate finance and strategic advisory. The brokerage group provides equity and convertible debt securities sales and trading services to institutional investors, and offers brokerage, advisory and cash management services to high-net-worth individuals and corporate clients. The asset management group consists of: private equity, public equity and distribution management. Thomas Weisel Partners is headquartered in San Francisco with additional offices in Baltimore, Boston, Calgary, Chicago, Denver, New York, Portland, Toronto, London and Zurich. For more information, please visit www.tweisel.com.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements, which are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions about us. In some cases, you can identify these statements by forward-looking words such as "may", "might", "will", "should", "expect", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "predict", "optimistic", "potential", "future" or "continue", the negative of these terms and other comparable terminology. These statements are only predictions based on our current expectations about future events. There are important factors that could cause actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements or other events or circumstances to differ materially from the results, level of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to, the state of the financial markets and the economy, particularly as they relate to the growth sectors that the firm is focused on, Thomas Weisel Partners' ability to implement its strategic initiatives and achieve the expected benefits of the acquisition of Westwind Partners, retain its professionals, as well as other competitive, economic, political, and market conditions and fluctuations, government and industry regulation, risks relating to the acquisition of Westwind Partners, including the effect of the completion of the transaction on the companies' business relationships, operating results and business generally and other factors. Some of the other factors are those that are discussed in Item 1A - "Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2008 and in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q filed with the SEC thereafter. We do not assume responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of any forward-looking statement and you should not rely on forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. We are under no duty to update any of these forward-looking statements to conform them to actual results or revised expectations.