consultants

Thomas H. Dodd, CFA, FSA, Senior Consultant
Mr. Dodd is President of Stratford Advisory Group, Inc. (“Stratford”). He serves as lead consultant and relationship manager to a number of Stratford clients. As a lead consultant, he has primary responsibility for managing the delivery of strategic investment advice to Stratford clients. Mr. Dodd joined Stratford as a senior consultant in 1994 and has been President since 2003. Mr. Dodd has 34 years of investment and actuarial experience and is a member of Stratford’s Investment Committee.

Prior to joining Stratford, Mr. Dodd was a Principal at William M. Mercer Investment Consulting, Inc. At Mercer, he provided investment and actuarial advice to institutional clients. His investment experience includes three years as an independent futures trader at the Chicago Board of Trade and nine years as a consulting actuary at The Wyatt Company and A.S. Hansen, Inc.

Mr. Dodd is a member of the CFA Institute, the CFA Society of Chicago and a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from Bradley University and a Master of Business Administration degree from Northwestern University.

Susan N. McDermott, CFA, Senior Consultant
Ms. McDermott is Senior Vice President and Director of Research of Stratford Advisory Group, Inc. (“Stratford”). She serves as lead consultant and relationship manager providing strategic investment advice to institutional retirement funds, health care systems, endowments, foundations, and private wealth clients. She also addresses professional groups, provides educational seminars to plan sponsors and continues to compose several of Stratford’s research papers on a variety of investment related subjects. Ms. McDermott joined Stratford as a consultant in 1991. She serves as Chair of Stratford’s Investment Committee and has 26 years of investment experience.

Prior to joining Stratford, Ms. McDermott was an Associate at Ennis, Knupp & Associates and she was a Portfolio Manager and Trust Officer at the First National Bank of Chicago.

Ms. McDermott is a member of the CFA Institute and the CFA Society of Chicago. Ms. McDermott earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a Master of Business Administration degree in Finance and Marketing from Northwestern University.

Alyssa B. Cheatham, CFA, Consultant
Ms. Cheatham is a consultant with Stratford Advisory Group, Inc. (“Stratford”). She provides strategic investment advice to health care systems, pension funds, foundations, endowments, defined contribution and deferred compensation plans. She is also responsible for co-supervising investment analyst and senior analyst staff members and she serves as team leader for research on hedge fund strategies. Ms. Cheatham joined Stratford in 1999. She has over eight years of investment experience.

Prior to joining Stratford, Ms. Cheatham was an Investment Associate at Evanston Capital Management, a hedge fund of funds. At Evanston she worked exclusively with the portfolio manager in analyzing and investing in hedge fund strategies for over $800 million in hedge fund of funds assets. Most commonly reviewed portfolios included long/short equity, relative value and event driven strategies. Ms. Cheatham also assisted in the launch of Evanston’s second offering, a market neutral fund of funds strategy.

Ms. Cheatham is a member of the CFA Institute and the CFA Society of Chicago. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of Chicago.

Kerry L. Elsass, Consultant
Ms. Elsass is a consultant with Stratford Advisory Group, Inc. ("Stratford"). She provides strategic investment advice to endowments, foundations, defined contribution plans, defined benefits plans, and health care clients. She also serves on the research team for hedge fund investment managers. Ms. Elsass joined Stratford in 2008. She has six years of investment experience.

Prior to joining Stratford, Ms. Elsass was a Senior Investment Analyst at Ennis, Knupp & Associates. At EnnisKnupp, she worked with the primary relationship managers to provide investment advice to institutional consulting clients. She was also responsible for research efforts on hedge fund of funds managers. Ms. Elsass' investment experience also includes three years as a Research Analyst on hedge fund managers with Mesirow Financial, Inc.

She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from Miami University and a Master of Business Administration degree in Finance from DePaul University.

Cori E. Rettberg, Consultant
Ms. Rettberg is a consultant with Stratford Advisory Group, Inc. (“Stratford”). She provides strategic investment advice to endowments, foundations, defined contribution plans, defined benefits plans, health care clients, Taft-Hartley funds, and public funds. She is also responsible for co-supervising investment analyst and senior analyst staff members and she serves as team leader for research on domestic value and core equity investment managers. Ms. Rettberg joined Stratford in 2000. She has seven years of investment experience.

Prior to joining Stratford, Ms. Rettberg served for five years as an associate banker at Illini Bank in Springfield, IL. At Illini Bank, her responsibilities included managing consumer loans for numerous clients.

Ms. Rettberg is a Level I candidate in the Chartered Financial Analyst Program. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from Eastern Illinois University.

Christopher J. Van Dyke, Consultant
Mr. Van Dyke is a consultant with Stratford Advisory Group, Inc. (“Stratford”). He provides strategic investment advice to endowments, foundations, defined contribution plans, defined benefits plans, and health care clients. He is also a team leader for research on hedge fund strategies. Mr. Van Dyke joined Stratford in 2007. He has seven years of investment experience.

Prior to joining Stratford, Mr. Van Dyke was an Assistant Vice President/Associate Consultant at CTC Consulting, Inc. in Portland, OR. At CTC Consulting, he worked exclusively constructing, monitoring and evaluating client portfolios with assets exceeding $2 billion.

Mr. Van Dyke is a Level III candidate in the Chartered Financial Analyst Program. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics with a minor in Finance from the University of Oregon.

Michael B. Dore, Associate Consultant
Mr. Dore is an associate consultant with Stratford Advisory Group, Inc. ("Stratford"). He provides strategic investment advice to defined contribution plans, defined benefits plans, health care clients, and Taft-Hartley funds. He also serves as a team member for research on private equity investment managers. Mr. Dore joined Stratford in 2005 and has three years of investment experience.

Before joining Stratford, Mr. Dore served as a Financial Advisory Intern with Morgan Stanley Dean Witter in Chicago, IL. While at Morgan Stanley, he developed and maintained a client base and was responsible for calculation and reconciliation of client investment portfolios and performed research and analysis of total client holdings for senior advisors.

Mr. Dore is a Level III candidate in the Chartered Financial Analyst Program. He earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Finance and a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Management and Organization from the University of Iowa.

Blake A. Kluesner, Associate Consultant
Mr. Kluesner is an associate consultant with Stratford Advisory Group, Inc. ("Stratford"). He provides strategic investment advice to endowments and foundations, defined contribution plans, defined benefits plans, health care clients, and Taft-Hartley funds. He also serves as team member for research on hedge fund investment managers. Mr. Kluesner joined Stratford in 2004 and has four years of investment experience.

Prior to joining Stratford, Mr. Kluesner was involved in a family business where he monitored daily operating results and approved investment decisions.

Mr. Kluesner is a Level I candidate in the Chartered Financial Analyst Program. He earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Finance and Information Systems from Loyola University Chicago.

Christine L. Horvath, Vice President and Chief Compliance Officer
Ms. Horvath is Vice President and Chief Compliance Officer of Stratford Advisory Group, Inc. She is responsible for providing the management of several daily operations including finance, accounting, IT, and human resources. She is also responsible for all internal compliance matters relating to Investment Advisor Regulatory Compliance.

Ms. Horvath is also Controller and Chief Compliance Officer of Wamberg Asset Management. She is responsible for the management of finance, accounting, and internal compliance matters. Both Stratford Advisory Group and Wamberg Asset Management are wholly owned subsidiaries of Clark & Wamberg, LLC.

Ms. Horvath received a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration with a minor in Accounting from Winona State University in 1993 and a Masters of Business Administration in 2005 from DePaul University, Kellstadt Graduate School of Business.

Charles J. French, IV, Consultant
Mr. French is a consultant with Stratford Advisory Group, Inc. (“Stratford”). As lead for Stratford’s sales and marketing efforts, he is responsible for identifying and securing new business opportunities. He joined Stratford in 2008.

Prior to joining Stratford, Mr. French served as an executive benefits and financial solutions consultant at Clark Consulting. His extensive consulting expertise includes nonqualified benefit plan design, funding, security, communication and administration as well as change of control and merger related issues.

Mr. French is a general securities representative (Series 7) as licensed by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). He is a Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) and Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC) as designated by The American College.

Additionally, Mr. French is a Level I candidate for the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst Program. Mr. French received a Bachelor of Science degree from Northwestern University and a Master’s of Business Administration from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business.