UPDATE 2-Thomas Weisel sees return to profitability in 2010

* Says investment banking returning normal in Q4

* Q3 adj loss/shr $0.39 vs est loss/shr $0.35

* Q3 brokerage revenue down 28 pct

* Q3 investment banking revenue falls 11 pct (Recasts; Adds conference call details)

Oct 28 (Reuters) - Investment bank Thomas Weisel Partners Group Inc TWPG.O posted a wider-than-expected quarterly loss, hurt mainly by lower brokerage revenue, but said it expected to return to profitability in 2010.

"Given the improved operating environment and the momentum we established in investment banking, along with our commitment to control costs, we expect to return to profitability in 2010," Chief Executive Thomas Weisel said on a conference call.

The company added that its investment banking segment had started to return to a "more normal level of activity" in the fourth quarter.

"We have witnessed an increase in the pace of IPO pitches that were essentially nonexistent months ago," the CEO said.

The San Francisco-based investment bank said it was involved in a number of deals, including equity offerings, that it had been awarded a mandate on but were not yet reflected in public filings.

Third-quarter net loss was $14.4 million, or 44 cents a share, compared with a loss of $109.2 million, or $3.41 a share, in the year-ago period. Excluding items, the company posted a loss of 39 cents a share.

Analysts expected a loss of 35 cents a share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Brokerage revenue fell 28 percent to $24.3 million.

Investment banking revenue was $15.6 million, compared with $17.5 million last year.

Shares of the company closed at $5.10 Wednesday on Nasdaq. (Reporting by Abhinav Sharma and Brenton Cordeiro in Bangalore; Editing by Unnikrishnan Nair)