SAN FRANCISCO, March 21, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Merriman Capital, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Merriman Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: MERR), today announced the hiring of Paul Kent as head of capital markets and a member of its executive committee. Kent will focus on expanding Merriman's institutional investor footprint and driving the firm's commission revenues.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100914/SF64919LOGO)

Kent brings a wealth of knowledge to Merriman, with more than 20 years of experience and important West Coast institutional sales and trading relationships. He joins the firm from Gleacher & Company (Nasdaq: GLCH) where he served as head of west coast institutional equities. Kent previously opened Pali Capital, Inc.'s Bay Area office as managing director, and head of San Francisco equity sales and trading.

Kent spent the majority of his Wall Street career with Jefferies & Company where he worked in Los Angeles, New York and was responsible for opening the San Francisco office. Kent held various roles at Jefferies including senior sales trader, regional sales manager of the San Francisco office, and head of equity sales trading. Kent began his career at the Pacific Stock Exchange.

"Paul's many years of equity sales and trading experience, combined with his deep institutional investor contacts, will allow us to rapidly expand our capital markets capabilities and sales and trading revenues," said Alex Seiler, chief executive officer of Merriman Capital, Inc. "On behalf of our entire team, I am delighted to welcome Paul to the firm and our San Francisco trading desk. He will continue to be a valued resource and touchstone for clients in these uncertain economic times."

About Merriman Holdings, Inc.

Merriman Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: MERR) is a financial services firm focused on fast-growing companies and the institutions that invest in them. Merriman offers high-quality investment banking, equity research, institutional services and corporate & venture services, and specializes in four growth industry sectors: Technology, Telecom, Consumer, Media & Internet and CleanTech Infrastructure. For more information, please go to http://www.merrimanco.com/.  Merriman Capital, Inc. is a member of FINRA and SIPC.

Note to Investors

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements based on our current expectations, forecasts and assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties. This release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of offers to buy any securities of the Company. Forward-looking statements in this release are based on information available to us as of the date hereof. Our actual results may differ materially from those stated or implied in such forward-looking statements, due to risks and uncertainties associated with our business, which include the risk factors disclosed in our Form 10-K/A filed on April 30, 2010. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding our expectations, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future and can be identified by forward-looking words such as "anticipate," believe," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "should," and "would" or similar words. We assume no obligation to update the information included in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. The Form 10-K/A filed on April 30, 2010 and the Form 10-Q filed on November 15, 2010, together with this press release and the financial information contained herein, are available on our website, www.merrimanco.com . Please click on "Investor Relations."

SOURCE Merriman Holdings, Inc.