Stanford Group Company Announces Key Hires to Continue Expansion of Investment Banking Group.

MIAMI & NEW YORK -- --

Michael Guptan, Managing Director; Gene Ramirez, Vice President; and Javier Warra, Vice President Bring Strong Experience in Key Sectors Group Executes More Than 20 Transactions in First Year

Stanford Group Company today announced, as part of an aggressive growth plan, three new hires in its investment banking group, including Managing Director Michael Guptan, who brings more than 15 years of experience working in strategic and financial advisory roles with technology companies.

Guptan's previous experience includes senior investment banking positions at Salomon Smith Barney and Credit Suisse First Boston where he was involved in mergers and acquisitions, and restructuring and financing activities across the United States, Asia and Latin America. He also held leadership roles at McKinsey & Co. and at Hewlett Packard, where he worked in software development for the 64-bit RISC chip architecture, technology acquisitions and strategic planning. Guptan is an adjunct faculty member at New York University and has a master's degree in business administration from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Additional appointments announced today include Vice Presidents Gene Ramirez and Javier Warra.

"The growth of our investment banking group and recruitment of superb talent from top bulge-bracket firms are part of Stanford Group's aggressive plan to develop a full-service financial services company, building on the success of the Stanford Financial Group's international private client business," said Danny Bogar, managing director of Stanford Group Holdings. "Our strong capital backing, experienced professional team and deep commitment to the business positions us to establish a very competitive investment bank that offers a more entrepreneurial, personalized approach than the larger banks."

"These advantages are allowing us to fill a void in the market for emerging growth companies that are underserved by other investment banks, establishing a full-fledged equity platform from day one and underwriting IPOs and secondary equity offerings," Bogar said.

James Li, managing director and head of investment banking, Stanford Group Company, said, "Our business benefits from Stanford Group's recently expanded research platform, which offers a unique combination of policy perspectives and fundamental equity research. This provides us with keen insights into companies and industries we cover that are often overlooked by the big banks. As a result, we believe we are very well-suited to help these mostly mid-cap clients with their financing and advisory needs and to make a more significant impact on their growth."

"Michael Guptan, Gene Ramirez and Javier Warra exemplify the select group of professionals we are continuing to attract to SGC: talented bankers from top firms with deep experience in our core sectors who want to operate from a full-service platform while offering more personalized service to clients," Li said.

Gene Ramirez held various positions at Robertson Stephens & Co. and Southwest Securities before joining Stanford Group. In addition, he founded two enterprise software companies based in Austin and brings a strong combination of investment banking, operational and strategic expertise to the firm. Ramirez has a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics with a specialization in finance from the University of Texas at Austin.

Javier Warra joined Stanford from Citigroup's Salomon Smith Barney in New York, where he executed M&A and capital raising transactions in the consumer, food and retail sectors. Previously, he worked in M&A at Schroder & Co. and received a master's degree in business administration from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business.

New Hires Bring Investment Banking Team to 12 Professionals

Today's announcement of three new hires brings Stanford Group's investment banking team to 12 professionals based in Miami and Dallas. Since its debut in February of 2004, the group has already executed more than 20 transactions. Stanford Group's investment banking team includes:

James Li directs strategy and development for the firm's emerging growth investment banking clients. He brings more than 15 years of experience in senior positions at several major Wall Street investment banks such as Citigroup's Salomon Smith Barney, where he arranged billions of dollars of debt restructuring and equity financing for major U.S. and international corporations. Li also has considerable experience in mergers, acquisitions and privatizations in the United States, Asia and Latin America. Prior to Citigroup, Li worked in the M&A and corporate finance departments of Merrill Lynch in Singapore, Morgan Stanley in Hong Kong and J.P. Morgan in New York. He holds a bachelor's degree in economics from Yale University.

Managing Director Nancy Huggins has more than 20 years of banking experience. She previously served as managing director at both Credit Suisse First Boston and Wasserstein, Perella. Huggins also has experience developing new banking operations, having been part of the teams that successfully started new offices for CSFB in Houston and Dallas and for Wasserstein, Perella in Dallas. She has also managed more than $10 billion in financing and advised on numerous M&A transactions.

Vice Presidents Tal Kimmel and James Newcomb. Kimmel joined Stanford from Lehman Bros. in New York, where he advised companies in the media and telecommunications sectors on private equity, M&A and public equity transactions. He holds a master's degree in business administration from New York University's Stern School of Business. Newcomb has held various positions at investment banks, including Robertson Stephens & Co in San Francisco, where he executed a wide range of mergers and acquisitions, public offerings, private placement financings and recapitalizations on behalf of middle-market companies in various industries. He received a master's degree in business administration from Columbia Business School.

Associates Joshua Fiedler, Glenn Ketover, Andrea McCormick and John Nelson. Fiedler joined Stanford from Deutsche Bank in New York, where he was an associate in the Debt Capital Markets Group and in the Debt Private Placements Group. He also worked in the Yankee Capital Markets Group at Banc of America Securities LLC in New York. Ketover joined Stanford from Lehman Bros. in New York, where he worked in the Global Mergers & Acquisitions Group.

Prior to joining Stanford, McCormick worked as an associate in the Consumer and Healthcare Group for JP Morgan in New York, advising companies on M&A and LBO transactions. She has a master's degree in business administration with honors from the University of Chicago. Nelson joined Stanford from Altium Capital, formerly Apax Partners Corporate Finance, in London, where he focused on private placements and M&A transactions in the media, retail and consumer sectors. He also worked at Merrill Lynch in the Corporate Finance Group and at CIBC World Markets in the Structured Products Group.

Analyst Mackenzie Lake joined Stanford from Sullivan & Cromwell LLP in New York where she worked on corporate, project and structured finance transactions as a legal assistant. She also worked for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's TradeRoots program in Washington, D.C., and Santiago, Chile.

About Stanford Group Company

Stanford Group Company (member NASD/SIPC) is a full-service wealth management, financial planning and financial services company offering an enhanced level of personal service for private individuals, companies, governments and institutional clients. The firm's rapidly growing Institutional Division, founded in response to clients' desire for quality research, offers highly differentiated, research-driven insights, as well as investment banking, merchant banking (through its affiliate Stanford Venture Capital Holdings, Inc.), and institutional sales and trading.

Stanford Group Company is a member of Houston-based Stanford Financial Group, a global network of affiliated financial companies headed by Chairman and CEO R. Allen Stanford. Although independent, the affiliated companies together provide coordinated wealth management through international private banking, asset management, investment advisory services, trust administration, commercial banking, real estate development and insurance for clients worldwide.