Piper Jaffray Companies Elects Jean Taylor to Board of Directors

MINNEAPOLIS, July 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Piper Jaffray Companies today announced that Jean Taylor has been elected to serve on the company's board of directors. Taylor is president of Taylor Corporation, a privately held group of approximately 80 affiliated entrepreneurial companies with operations located throughout North America, Europe and Australia.

"We are delighted that Jean will serve as a director," said Andrew Duff, chairman and chief executive officer of Piper Jaffray Companies. "She is a strong leader with significant experience in building entrepreneurial businesses and we look forward to adding her expertise and strategic perspective to the board."

The Taylor Corporation companies are engaged in marketing, fulfillment, personalization and printing services and together employ more than 15,000 employees. As president of Taylor Corporation, Taylor works with the leaders in the organization's operations and corporate support functions to ensure each of the entrepreneurial businesses attains optimum performance and that the companies achieve their strategic goals. Before joining Taylor Corporation in 1994, Taylor was a senior vice president of E.W. Blanch Co., a global reinsurance intermediary.

Taylor graduated with a bachelor's degree in business administration from Augsburg College in Minneapolis and received a master's of business administration with a concentration in management support systems from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota. Taylor was appointed chair of the Augsburg College Board of Regents in May 2004. She also serves on the board of directors for the Minnesota Private College Council and is a trustee of the Glen A. Taylor Foundation.

Piper Jaffray Companies is a focused securities firm dedicated to delivering superior financial advice, investment products and transaction execution within selected sectors of the financial services marketplace. The company operates through two primary revenue-generating segments: Capital Markets and Private Client Services. Through its chief operating subsidiary, Piper Jaffray & Co., the firm has served corporations, government and non- profit entities, institutional investors and the financial advisory needs of private individuals since 1895. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Piper Jaffray has approximately 3,000 employees in 104 offices in 23 states across the country and in London. For more information about Piper Jaffray, visit us online at http://www.piperjaffray.com/ .