Caris & Company Appoints Michael Hoffman as President and Chief Operating Officer

Business Wire, June 14, 2007

DEL MAR, Calif. -- Caris & Company announced today the appointment of Michael E. Hoffman as President/COO. Mr. Hoffman will be based out of the investment bank's New York offices and will also serve as interim Director of Research.

"Michael's background in equity research, his leadership skills, and most importantly his unwavering ethics make him a perfect leader for Caris & Company," said Darren Caris, Chairman and CEO. "Michael brings tremendous management, operating, and research practice acumen to our organization." Mr. Caris added that this hire would augment the firm's commitment to become Wall Street's top research oriented boutique investment bank, and create the leadership infrastructure needed to develop and launch Caris' asset management arm.

Michael E. Hoffman has twenty years of experience as a senior equity research analyst and in research management; most recent as Deputy Director of Research, Head of Fixed Income Research and Group Head of Diversified Industrial Research at Friedman Billings Ramsey. He spent five years with Salomon Brothers covering Pollution Control and Specialty Chemicals, a year with Robertson Stevens building its Pollution Control Practice, and ten years with Credit Suisse where he built and managed a team of 80 in the US, Europe and Asia that created the firm's fundamental global research database, still in use today. He has been ranked number two by Institutional Investor, Greenwich Associates and Reuters in Pollution Control. Michael is a graduate of the General Electric Manufacturing Management Program, having spent three years with that company.

Mr. Hoffman holds the Series 3, 7, 16, 24, 86, and 87. He graduated from Widener University with a Bachelors of Science and Engineering in 1981 and Cornell University with a Masters of Business Administration in 1987. Michael is the owner-rider winner of the 2001 Maryland Hunt Cup, an avid fly fisherman and errant golfer.

About Caris & Company

Established in 2002, Caris & Company is a full service investment bank that services Wall Street's institutional investment community by providing differentiated, collaborative, alpha generating ideas. Headquartered in Del Mar, CA, Caris & Company has offices in New York, San Francisco, and Boston. The firm's research product includes coverage in the following areas: Biotechnology, Medical Devices, Medical Diagnostics, Healthcare IT, Semiconductors, Semi-Cap Equipment, Storage, Internet Services, Refining, Coal, Home Furnishings, Specialty Retail, Consumer Electronics, and Action Sports Retailers.