Management Team

Lester Brafman has served as Chief Executive Officer of Cohen & Company, Inc. and Cohen & Company, LLC since 2013. Mr. Brafman also serves as Chief Executive Officer of J.V.B. Financial Group, LLC, the Company’s broker-dealer subsidiary. Prior to joining Cohen & Company, Mr. Brafman spent 11 years at Goldman Sachs where he served as Chief Operating Officer of Credit and Mortgage Trading and as Head of High Yield and Distressed Trading. Prior to joining Goldman Sachs in 2001, Mr. Brafman spent over six years at Credit Suisse First Boston, holding numerous positions, including Head of High Yield Trading and Head of Emerging Market and Sovereign Trading. Mr. Brafman also spent several years at Wasserstein Perella & Co. and Lehman Brothers. Mr. Brafman received a B.A. from Columbia University and an M.B.A. from the Amos Tuck School of Business Administration, Dartmouth College.

Daniel G. Cohen is Chairman of the Board of Directors of Cohen & Company Inc. and of the board of managers of Cohen & Company’s majority owned subsidiary, Cohen & Company LLC. Mr. Cohen is Chief Investment Officer of Cohen & Company’s Asset Management Business, and is President, a director and the Chief Investment Officer of Cohen & Company’s indirect majority owned subsidiary, Cohen & Company Financial Limited. Mr. Cohen also currently serves as Executive Chairman of The Bancorp, Inc. and Chief Executive Officer of FinTech Acquisition Corp II. In these capacities, Mr. Cohen has overseen the financing, acquisition and placement of billions of dollars of ABS, commercial mortgage-backed securities, corporate and financial technology related assets. Mr. Cohen is a member of the Academy of the University of Pennsylvania, a member of the Visiting Committees for the Humanities of the University of Chicago, and a member of the board for the Paris Center of Columbia University. Mr. Cohen is also the Chairman of the Board of the Paideia Institute, which promotes classical studies, and a Trustee of the Arete Foundation. Mr. Cohen holds a B.A. in East Asian History from University of Chicago.

Joseph W. Pooler, Jr. has served as Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of Cohen & Company Inc. since December 16, 2009 and as Cohen & Company, LLC’s Chief Financial Officer since November 2007 and as its Chief Administrative Officer since May 2007. From July 2006 through November 2007, Mr. Pooler also served as Senior Vice President of Finance of Cohen & Company, LLC. From November 2007 through March 2009, Mr. Pooler served as Chief Financial Officer of Muni Funding Company of America, LLC, a company managed by Cohen & Company that invested in middle-market non-profit organizations. Prior to joining Cohen & Company, from 1999 through 2005, Mr. Pooler held key management positions at Pegasus Communications Corporation (now known as Xanadoo Company (OTC: XAND)), which operated in the direct broadcast satellite television and broadcast television station segments. While at Pegasus, Mr. Pooler held various positions including Chief Financial Officer, Principal Accounting Officer, and Senior Vice President of Finance. From 1993 through 1999, Mr. Pooler held various management positions with MEDIQ, Incorporated, including Corporate Controller, Director of Operations, and Director of Sales Support. Mr. Pooler holds a B.A. from Ursinus College, an M.B.A. from Drexel University, and was a Certified Public Accountant in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (license lapsed).

Douglas Listman has served as the Chief Accounting Officer of Cohen & Company, Inc. since December 2009 and Chief Accounting Officer of Cohen & Company, LLC since 2006. From 2004 to 2006, Mr. Listman served as an associate for Resources Global Professionals (a worldwide accounting services consulting firm). From 1992 to 2003, Mr. Listman served in various accounting and finance positions including: senior accountant with KPMG; Assistant Corporate Controller of Integrated Health Services (a publicly traded provider of skilled nursing services; NYSE: IHS); Controller of Integrated Living Communities (a publicly traded provider of assisted living services; NASDAQ: ILCC); Chief Financial Officer of Senior Lifestyles Corporation (a private owned provider of assisted living services); and Chief Financial Officer of Monarch Properties (a privately owned health care facility real estate investment company). Mr. Listman is a Certified Public Accountant and graduated from the University of Delaware with a B.S. in accounting.

Andrew K. Davilman serves as Chief Operating Officer of Cohen & Company’s Asset Management business and is a Managing Director, Sales and Special Projects with J.V.B. Financial Group, LLC, Cohen & Company’s broker-dealer subsidiary. Mr. Davilman spent 16 years at Goldman, Sachs & Co. (“Goldman Sachs”) in a variety of positions. As a Managing Director, from 2006 to 2010, Mr. Davilman founded and co-ran the Structured Credit Sales desk. Prior to that, Mr. Davilman worked in institutional mortgage sales from 1998 to 2006. From 1994 to 1998, Mr. Davilman traded mortgage-backed security derivatives including, inverse floaters, inverse IOs, IOs and POs, and CMO residuals. Before joining Goldman Sachs, Mr. Davilman traded mortgage-backed security derivatives at Lehman Brothers from 1989 to 1994. Mr. Davilman has expertise in credit default swaps, collateralized debt obligations and collateralized loan obligations, as well as other derivatives and cash instruments typically traded across the fixed income universe. Mr. Davilman holds an A.B. in Religion from Dartmouth College and holds an M.B.A from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business.

Rachael Fink has served as Senior Vice President, General Counsel, and Secretary of Cohen & Company Inc. since December 2009 and as Cohen & Company, LLC’s General Counsel since January 2008. Ms. Fink joined Cohen & Company, LLC in June 2006 as Senior Counsel. Prior to joining the Company, Ms. Fink was an associate in the Structured Finance and Derivatives practice group of the Corporate Department of Weil, Gotshal & Manges, LLP. Ms. Fink has also practiced law at Latham & Watkins LLP and Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver and Jacobson LLP, both in New York. From 1994 to 1995, Ms. Fink served as law clerk to the Honorable Stephen L. Crocker, United States Magistrate Judge for the Western District of Wisconsin. Ms. Fink has a BA from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and a JD, cum laude, from Brooklyn Law School. Ms. Fink is a member of the New York State bar.