Novantas Acquires Wallace & Mackenzie Inc.

November 2, 2005

NEW YORK - Novantas LLC, a management consultancy serving the majority of the largest banking and financial services companies in North America, has announced the acquisition of Wallace & Mackenzie, Inc., a management consultancy focused on wealth management and private banking.

Novantas, based in New York, is the acknowledged leader in customer science and revenue strategy in the financial services industry. It specializes in investigating and interpreting customer needs, attitudes and behaviors to help companies refine decisions, customer strategies, and sales and service activities. Through disciplined analytics, pragmatism and deep industry experience, the Firm ensures that the resulting performance improvements are effective and enduring.

"Novantas' key strengths are directly applicable to wealth management and private banking, expanding the services we can offer in this important sector of financial services," said Alistair Jessiman, Chief Executive Officer of Wallace & Mackenzie. Jessiman added that wealth management companies are increasingly asking for help in not only crafting but also implementing their strategies, "particularly in customer-sensitive areas such as branding and targeting, lead generation and service, and dynamic pricing." Jessiman has been named a Managing Director at Novantas.

Peter C. Davis, a Managing Director at Novantas, said: "We are excited to integrate the capabilities of Wallace & Mackenzie into Novantas, which will enhance our ability to serve consumer banking and capital markets clients in the fast-growing wealth management business." The major aspects of wealth management include private banking, private client services, asset management, independent investment management, brokerage and insurance.

Founded in 2001 and headquarted in Darien, Connecticut, Wallace & Mackenzie has worked with many of the major players in wealth management, both in the United States and Europe, primarily as an advisor on strategies for growth. Jessiman was a Managing Director and head of Private Client Services at J.P Morgan & Co., prior to the parent company's merger with Chase Manhattan Corp. in 2001.

Novantas is the acknowledged leader in customer science and revenue strategy for the financial industries. The Firm specializes in applying advanced analytics and technologies to help clients make better decisions in marketing, product, pricing, customer management, and distribution.

Along with consulting services, Novantas also provides computer-based services that support major marketing applications. The Mindswift® platform, for example, is used by clients to improve interactions with customers over the phone and the Internet. Qualytix, a Novantas subsidiary, is highly active in performance benchmarking.

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