JULIAN LOWENTHAL is President of The Practec Group LLC (www.practec.com), a Weston, Connecticut--based consulting firm specializing in the financial services industry. Mr. Lowenthal has more than fifteen years experience helping financial services institutions and professionals maximize performance to meet their business goals. In addition to his consulting work, Mr. Lowenthal has served as an adjunct faculty member at Rutgers University Center for Management and Development, Hunter College's Department of Economics, and Adelphi University's Graduate School of Business. He holds both a master of philosophy and master of arts degree from the economics department at Columbia University, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.