Dallas, February 5, 2009 - Westwood Holdings Group, Inc. (NYSE: WHG) today reported 2008 fourth quarter revenues of $17.6 million, net income of $5.1 million and earnings per diluted share of $0.79. This compares to revenues of $12.2 million, net income of $3.3 million and earnings per diluted share of $0.52 in the fourth quarter of 2007. For the year ended December 31, 2008, Westwood reported revenues of $46.5 million, net income of $10.5 million and earnings per diluted share of $1.63 compared to revenues of $36.3 million, net income of $7.9 million and earnings per diluted share of $1.28 for the year ended December 31, 2007. The 2008 results include the positive impact of a performance-based fee of approximately $8.6 million, which reflects investment outperformance in 2008 and 2007, recorded in the fourth quarter 2008. The 2007 results include the positive impact of a performance-based fee of approximately $3.0 million recorded in the fourth quarter 2007.

Cash earnings for the fourth quarter of 2008 were $6.9 million compared to $4.8 million for the fourth quarter of 2007. Cash earnings per share ("Cash EPS") for the fourth quarter of 2008 were $1.07 per diluted share compared to $0.76 per diluted share for the fourth quarter of 2007. Cash earnings for the year ended December 31, 2008 were $17.3 million compared to $13.3 million in 2007, while Cash EPS for the year ended December 31, 2008 were $2.68 per diluted share compared to $2.14 per diluted share in 2007. (Cash earnings and Cash EPS are non-GAAP financial measures that are explained and reconciled with the most comparable GAAP financial measures in the attached tables.)

Revenues for the 2008 fourth quarter increased 44% compared to the 2007 fourth quarter, primarily as a result of the larger performance fee recorded in the 2008 fourth quarter. Revenues for the year 2008 increased 28% compared to 2007, primarily as a result of the larger performance-based fee recorded in 2008 as well as increased average assets under management. Average assets under management for 2008 were $7.7 billion, an increase of 12% compared with $6.9 billion for 2007. Assets under management were $7.2 billion as of December 31, 2008, a decline of 9% compared to December 31, 2007 assets under management of $7.9 billion. The decrease in period ending assets under management was primarily due to the market depreciation of assets under management, which offset significant net inflows of assets from new and existing clients.

Total expenses for the year 2008 were $29.9 million compared to $24.1 million for 2007. Cash expenses for 2008 were $23.2 million compared to $18.8 million for 2007. (An explanation and reconciliation of cash expenses to total expenses are included in the attached tables.) The primary driver of the increase in total expenses was higher employee compensation and benefits costs. Increased compensation costs were primarily due to an increase of $1.6 million in incentive compensation expense due to higher pre-tax income, an increase of $1.4 million in non-cash restricted stock expense due to additional restricted stock grants in July 2007 and February 2008 as well as the higher price at which these grants were made compared to prior grants, and increased salary expense due to increased headcount and salary increases for certain employees.

Westwood Trust contributed revenue of $11.1 million and net income of $1.4 million in 2008, compared to revenue of $10.4 million and net income of $1.7 million in 2007. Westwood Trust's assets under management as of December 31, 2008 were $1.6 billion, a decrease of 17% compared to $1.9 billion as of December 31, 2007. The decrease in assets under management was primarily due to the market depreciation of assets under management, which offset net inflows of assets from new and existing clients.

The WHG Funds, consisting of WHG LargeCap Value, WHG SMidCap, WHG SmallCap Value, WHG Income Opportunity and WHG Balanced, had assets of $253 million as of December 31, 2008, an increase of approximately 8% compared to $234 million in assets as of December 31, 2007. The WHG SMidCap and WHG Income Opportunity funds were both recently awarded a 5-star rating by Morningstar. The WHG LargeCap Value and WHG Balanced funds will be rated by Morningstar in 2009 when they complete their three year track record later this year. So far, both funds have achieved solid relative performance versus their peer groups and benchmarks.

Westwood also announced today that its Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.30 per common share, payable on April 1, 2009 to stockholders of record on March 13, 2009.

Brian Casey, Westwood's President & CEO commented, "Westwood just completed the best year we have ever had in terms of new relationships and new assets with approximately $2 billion in net inflows. We gained new client relationships across all business lines and were particularly pleased to earn several new subadvisory relationships with national and global distribution platforms. Once markets stabilize, we hope to see these subadvisory relationships grow in a meaningful way. While it was a great year for Westwood in terms of new relationships, it was a very challenging year for all investors. While we are pleased to have delivered another year of strong relative investment results for our clients across our product lines, we understand and have great empathy for the challenges our clients face in this difficult market environment. At a time when many companies are reducing staff to save cost, we have actually responded by adding talented professionals to better serve our clients in the investment and client support areas. All of our owner-employees remain focused on working harder than ever before to retain our clients' confidence and assist them in reaching their long-term goals."

Westwood will host a conference call to discuss the 2008 fourth quarter results and other business updates at 4:30 p.m. Eastern time today. To listen to the conference call, dial 866-411-4706 (domestic) or 904-596-2360 (international). The conference call will also be available via webcast and can be accessed at Westwood's website, www.westwoodgroup.com under the Investor Relations tab. The conference call will be available for replay through February 12 by dialing 888-284-7564 (domestic) or 904-596-3174 (international) and entering passcode 244120.

About Westwood

Westwood Holdings Group, Inc. manages investment assets and provides services for its clients through two subsidiaries, Westwood Management Corp. and Westwood Trust. Westwood Management Corp. is a registered investment advisor and provides investment advisory services to corporate pension funds, public retirement plans, endowments, foundations, the WHG Funds, other mutual funds and clients of Westwood Trust. Westwood Trust provides trust and custodial services and participation in common trust funds that it sponsors to institutions and high net worth individuals. Westwood Holdings Group, Inc. trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "WHG."

For more information on Westwood, please visit Westwood's website at www.westwoodgroup.com.

For more information on the WHG Funds, please visit the Funds' website at www.whgfunds.com.

Note on Forward-looking Statements

Statements in this press release that are not purely historical facts, including statements about our expected future financial position, results of operations or cash flows, as well as other statements including words such as "anticipate," "believe," "plan," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "should," "could," "goal," "target," "designed," "on track," "comfortable with," "optimistic" and other similar expressions, constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Actual results and the timing of some events could differ materially from those projected in or contemplated by the forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including, without limitation: our ability to identify and successfully market services that appeal to our customers; the significant concentration of our revenues in four of our customers; our relationships with investment consulting firms; our relationships with current and potential customers; our ability to retain qualified personnel; our ability to successfully develop and market new asset classes; our ability to maintain our fee structure in light of competitive fee pressures; competition in the marketplace; downturn in the financial markets; the passage of legislation adversely affecting the financial services industries; interest rates; changes in our effective tax rate; our ability to maintain an effective system of internal controls; our ability to capitalize on the performance of our marketing efforts; the acceptance of our new products with our existing and new clients; changes in our dividend policy and uses of our cash; and the other risks detailed from time to time in Westwood's SEC filings, including but not limited to, its annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007 and its quarterly reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2008, June 30, 2008 and September 30, 2008. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. Except as required by law, Westwood is not obligated to publicly release any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect the events or circumstances after the date of this press release or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

As supplemental information, we are providing non-GAAP performance measures that we refer to as cash earnings, cash earnings per share (or Cash EPS), and cash expenses. We provide these measures in addition to, but not as a substitute for, net income, earnings per share and total expenses, which are reported on a GAAP basis. Management and our Board of Directors review cash earnings, Cash EPS and cash expenses to evaluate Westwood's ongoing performance, allocate resources and review dividend policy. We believe that these non-GAAP performance measures, while not substitutes for GAAP net income, earnings per share and total expenses, are useful for both management and investors to evaluate Westwood's underlying operating and financial performance and its available resources. We do not advocate that investors consider these non-GAAP measures without considering financial information prepared in accordance with GAAP.

We define cash earnings as net income plus the non-cash expense associated with equity-based compensation awards of restricted stock and stock options. We define cash expenses as total expenses less non-cash equity-based compensation expense. Although depreciation on fixed assets is a non-cash expense, we do not add it back when calculating cash earnings or deduct it when calculating cash expenses because depreciation charges represent a decline in the value of the related assets that will ultimately require replacement. In addition, we do not adjust cash earnings for tax deductions related to restricted stock expense. Cash EPS represents cash earnings divided by diluted weighted average shares outstanding.

SOURCE: Westwood Holdings Group, Inc.

(WHG-G)
CONTACT:
Westwood Holdings Group, Inc.
Bill Hardcastle
(214) 756-6900