Fitzhugh Taylor to Cover Restaurants

SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwire - July 15, 2008) - Thomas Weisel
Partners Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: TWPG) (TSX: TWP), a growth sector
focused investment bank, announced the hiring of Fitzhugh Taylor as a
Director and Senior Equity Research Analyst. Mr. Taylor will cover
the restaurant industry and will be based in San Francisco.

With the addition of Fitzhugh Taylor, Thomas Weisel Partners'
research coverage of the Consumer sector has now grown to seven
professionals covering over 90 companies. Mr. Taylor has over ten
years of industry experience and is widely recognized by the
investment community for his expertise in the restaurant industry.
Before joining Thomas Weisel Partners, Mr. Taylor held senior
research positions at Banc of America Securities and Robertson
Stephens. He was ranked the Top Earnings Estimator and among Top 3
Stock Pickers in Restaurants by Forbes in 2006.

"Fitzhugh Taylor is a respected analyst with an excellent track
record covering restaurant stocks," commented Keith Gay, Head of
Equity Research at Thomas Weisel Partners. "This addition is
indicative of our focus on the overall consumer sector and our
commitment to providing research coverage of growth sectors that are
rich in opportunity for our institutional investor base."

Thomas Weisel Partners has received key industry accolades, receiving
four analyst honors in the Financial Times/StarMine's 2008 Analyst
Survey and six analysts were named among the Best Brokerage Analysts
by Forbes.com. Thomas Weisel Partners now has 36 equity research
professionals in the US, Canada and Europe covering over 480
companies in the areas of consumer, energy, financial services,
healthcare, Internet, media & telecom, metals & mining, and
technology.

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 Group, Inc. 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, Cleveland, Denver,
New York, Portland, Silicon Valley, Toronto, London, Mumbai and
Zurich. For more information, please visit www.tweisel.com.

Investor Relations Contact:
Deborah Lightfoot
415-364-2500
investorrelations@tweisel.com

Media Contact:
Crystal Odessky
415-364-2500
codessky@tweisel.com





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