New York – Westrock Group, Inc., a financial services holding company, today announced that Douglas Sherman, Paul Krake and David Brown have joined the firm. The team will form the nucleus of Westrock Institutional Group, a new group subsidiary dedicated to serving the investment and trading needs of institutional clients, and Westrock Asset Management, which will be a separate entity that will provide asset management services.

“Westrock Institutional Group and Westrock Asset Management create new strategic pillars for the firm,” said Donald H. Hunter, Jr., President and Chief Executive Officer of Westrock Group. “We will provide financial services and advice to every facet of the investment process, from portfolio construction to trade execution”. Doug, Paul and Dave are senior professionals with proven track records in serving the institutional marketplace. I believe that they will significantly expand our client base and make Westrock Institutional Group and Westrock Asset Management major contributors to the firm’s profitability.”

Westrock Institutional Group will offer global trade execution services and customized quantitative research for clients. Westrock Asset Management will offer both traditional and customized alternative investment solutions through a transparent investment process. It is expected that the groups will become fully operational in the next several weeks.

Doug Sherman will serve as Head of Westrock Institutional Group and Paul Krake will serve as Head of Westrock Asset Management. Most recently, Doug oversaw trading at an international hedge fund he helped found in 2000 with other international traders from SAC Capital. Doug joined SAC capital in 1998 as Head Trader - International Desk. From 1989 until leaving SAC Capital, Doug was a Partner at Israel Englander, Inc. where he worked for 10 years co-running floor operations. He began his career in 1985 as an options trader at Drexel Burnham Lambert. Over the past several months, Doug has been advising Westrock Advisors on strategic developments.

Paul Krake, Head of Westrock Asset Management, has 17 years of asset management and trading experience. He brings to Westrock management expertise from both buy-side and sell-side organizations and global relationships. Prior to joining Westrock, he was the Founder and Managing Partner of Corus Capital Management, a multi-strategy hedge fund with offices in New York and Sydney. Before forming Corus in 2005, he was a global macro Portfolio Manager with Caxton Associates from 2000-2004 and a macro-Asian Analyst with Moore Capital Management from 1998-2000. Paul’s earlier sales experience was within equity derivatives at Goldman Sachs in Hong Kong, and with Macquarie Bank in Sydney where he began his career. Paul holds a Bachelor of Economics and Politics from Monash University in Melbourne, Australia.

David Brown, Head of Institutional Trading, brings over 15 years of trading experience to Westrock. He brings strong management and business development skills, extensive trading experience in several markets and a deep understanding of business process and technology. Most recently Dave was a senior proprietary trader at the Abbey Bank subsidiary of Banco Santander, where he built a proprietary pairs trading desk. From 1999-2002, Dave was a market maker at Herzog, Heine and Geduld, and from 1995-1999 served various trading and trading technology development roles with Merrill Lynch. From 1990-1995, he helped build an agency equity and option business at boutique Jonathan Foster & Co. Dave holds a M.S. in Financial Mathematics from the University of Chicago, and a B.A. in Economics from New York University.

About Westrock Group, Inc.
Headquartered in New York, Westrock Group, Inc., is a financial services holding company offering a comprehensive range of financial products and services for retail and institutional investors. Founded in 1995, the firm’s full-service independent broker-dealer, Westrock Advisors, Inc., offers a comprehensive range of financial and wealth management services for retail and institutional investors. Through its Monarch Financial subsidiary, the firm offers a fixed-income platform and equity trading. As of June 30, 2009, the firm had approximately $1.4 billion in assets under management and 50 employees.

For more information:
John McInerney
(212) 508-9628 jmcinerney@makovsky.com
Liz Pierce
(212) 508-9698 lpierce@makovsky.com
Both of Makovsky + Co.