CMC is staffed by highly qualified senior actuaries and consultants. Our team members have dedicated their careers to serving the public sector, bringing unparalleled experience to our clients. With an average of more than 25 years of consulting experience, we can deliver the thought leadership, technical prowess, and superior service our clients deserve.

Our firm is led by Tom Cavanaugh and Ed Macdonald, both well-credentialed and nationally recognized actuaries. Both of our co-founders frequently write for publication (see Ideas & Insights) and are invited to testify before legislative bodies.

We believe that continuing education benefits not just our staff but also our clients. We support the ongoing education of our staff by providing study time for exams, bonus and salary increases for exams, and salary increases for actuarial credentials. CMC also sponsors attendance at educational conferences to give our consultants all the tools necessary to provide the best service possible to our clients.

PRINCIPALS AND ACTUARIES

Thomas J. Cavanaugh FSA, FCA, EA, MAAA CEO and Co-Founder Tom is a highly skilled professional actuary and consultant who has worked in the defined benefit pension field since 1977. He is a recognized leader in the public sector benefits community and one of the co-founders of CMC. In the mid-1990s, Tom served as the CEO of a major competitor. Most recently, Tom served as the National Director of Governmental Services for another major competitor. Tom has a broad range of experience in deferred compensation consulting, actuarial audits, proposed legislation analysis, experience studies, retiree medical valuations, and the design, administration and funding of public retirement plans and health plans. Tom is an honors graduate of the United States Naval Academy where he earned a B.S. in applied mathematics. Tom also earned an M.B.A. from the University of Hartford with a focus on finance. Tom is a well-credentialed professional, having earned the following designations: Fellow, Society of Actuaries Enrolled Actuary under ERISA Member, American Academy of Actuaries Fellow, Conference of Consulting Actuaries Member of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board Pension Task Force and OPEB Task Force since inception Faculty member of the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans’ Certificate of Achievement in Public Plan Policy Past member of the International Foundation’s Public Employee Board Past member of the American Academy of Actuaries’ Pension Accounting Committee and Government Relations Committee Edward A. Macdonald ASA, MAAA, FCA President and Co-Founder As one of our co-founders, Ed is a talented professional actuary and consultant with experience in the public sector benefits industry dating from 1986. Ed is a recognized leader in the public sector benefits community who contributes his advanced knowledge of pension and health and welfare benefit issues to our clients. Ed has a broad range of experience in proposed legislation analysis, actuarial audits, experience studies, retiree medical valuations, and the design, administration and funding of public retirement plans and health plans. Ed is a graduate of the New Jersey Institute of Technology where he earned a B.S. in computer science and informational science. During the course of his career, Ed has garnered the following designations: Associate of the Society of Actuaries Fellow, Conference of Consulting Actuaries Member, American Academy of Actuaries Member, Corporate Advisory Committee for the National Council on Teacher Retirement Frequent speaker at public sector conferences on a wide variety of issues Board Member, Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc. Former Board Member, Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education Former member of the Task Force on Pension Portability for the National Council on Teacher Retirement Active in his community, having served as an adjunct professor of mathematics for students who needed remediation Alisa Bennett FSA, EA, MAAA, FCA Principal and Consulting Actuary Alisa Bennett is a Principal and Consulting Actuary at CMC. Alisa has consulted with governmental plans since 1990. Alisa is experienced in the preparation of annual valuations, proposed legislation pricing, actuarial audits, experience studies, special cost studies, health claims underwriting, and the design, administration, and funding of public retirement plans and health plans. She also consults with Medicare Part D plans about Attestations of Actuarial Equivalence, RDS application assistance, and general strategic advice. Alisa has extensive experience evaluating Other Post-Employment Benefits (OPEB). She has conducted initial evaluations under GASB Statements 43 and 45 for many local municipalities, counties and state-level plans and employers. In addition, she has helped many of these plans and employers develop strategies to manage their OPEB liability and expense. Alisa is a graduate of the University of Georgia where she earned a B.S. in mathematics. She also earned an M.A. in mathematics from the University of Georgia. Alisa is a well-credentialed professional and has earned the following designations: Fellow, Society of Actuaries Enrolled Actuary under ERISA Fellow, Conference of Consulting Actuaries Member, American Academy of Actuaries Jose Fernandez ASA, EA, MAAA, FCA Principal and Consulting Actuary Jose is a Principal and Consulting Actuary at CMC. Jose is a professional actuary who has consulted with clients in the public sector since 1980. Jose has a broad range of experience in the design, administration and funding of public retirement plans, proposed legislation analysis, experience studies, asset liability forecasts and actuarial audits. Jose has dedicated his career to providing high quality, timely service to clients. Over the last 15 years, Jose was responsible for managing benefits consulting services to clients for a major competitor. Jose is a graduate of St. Peter's College where he earned a B.S. in mathematics. He is bilingual in Spanish and often works with clients whose employees require communications in Spanish. Jose is a credentialed professional actuary with the following designations: Associate, Society of Actuaries Enrolled Actuary under ERISA Member, American Academy of Actuaries Fellow, Conference of Consulting Actuaries John Garrett, ASA, MAAA, FCA Principal and Consulting Actuary John Garrett is a Principal and Consulting Actuary with CMC. Since 1993, John has served as an actuarial consultant to numerous state and local government retirement systems. John’s expertise covers such areas as public plan consulting, valuations, plan design, legislative impact analysis, experience studies, asset/liability models, federal compliance and GASB issues, deferred retirement option plans (DROP), partial lump-sum options (PLOP), work after retirement (WAR), and retiree health care benefit plan design, valuations and funding strategies. John has spoken at regional and national forums such as the National Council on Teacher Retirement, the National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems, the Southern Conference on Teacher Retirement, the GFOA, Guns and Hoses, and the Texas Association of Public Employee Retirement Systems’ educational conferences. John has a B.S. degree from the University of the State of New York and a Master of Actuarial Science degree from Georgia State University. He has earned the following professional credentials: Associate, Society of Actuaries Member, American Academy of Actuaries Fellow, Conference of Consulting Actuaries Prior to beginning his career as an actuary, John served as an attack helicopter pilot in the U.S. Army. Todd Green, ASA, MAAA, FCA Principal and Consulting Actuary Todd Green is a Principal and Consulting Actuary at CMC. He has consulted with governmental plans since 1997. Todd has experience in the preparation of actuarial audits, annual valuations, financial disclosure information, proposed legislation pricing, experience studies, special cost studies, and assisting with GASB compliance requirements. Todd's robust consulting skills have enabled him to forge strong relationships with our clients. Todd is an expert in Florida statutes dealing with public pension plans. Todd is a graduate of Georgia State University where he earned a B.S. in mathematics with a concentration in actuarial science. Todd has earned the following designations: Associate of the Society of Actuaries Member, American Academy of Actuaries Fellow, Conference of Consulting Actuaries Edward Koebel EA, MAAA, FCA Principal and Consulting Actuary Ed Koebel is a Principal and Consulting Actuary at CMC. Since 1994, Ed has prepared annual valuations, experience studies, special cost studies, and retiree medical valuations. He is experienced in the design, administration and funding of retirement plans and health plans. Ed is a key member of our peer review team and his skill and dedication have earned him the trust of our clients. He devotes 100% of his time to client work. Ed is a graduate of Utica College of Syracuse University where he earned a B.A. in actuarial science. Ed's credentials include the following designations: Enrolled Actuary under ERISA Fellow, Conference of Consulting Actuaries Member, American Academy of Actuaries Catherine Turcot Principal and Managing Director Cathy is a Principal and Managing Director at CMC. Cathy has spent her entire career consulting with governmental plans. Since 1980, she has worked with clients on the preparation of annual valuations, proposed legislation pricing, experience studies, special cost studies, retiree medical valuations, and the design, administration and funding of public retirement plans and health plans. Cathy is a strong leader within our office and wins praise from our clients for her dedication to and knowledge of the public sector. She spends 100 percent of her time on client work. Cathy is a Cum Laude graduate of Oglethorpe University where she earned a B.S. in mathematics. Patrice Beckham, FSA, MAAA, EA, FCA Principal and Consulting Actuary Patrice Beckham is a Principal and Consulting Actuary with CMC. Since 1987, Pat has served as an actuarial consultant to numerous state and local government retirement systems. Pat's expertise covers a broad range of topics in public plan consulting including actuarial valuations, plan design, legislative impact analysis, experience studies, actuarial audits, asset/liability modeling, federal compliance, GASB issues, deferred retirement option plans (DROP), partial lump-sum options (PLOP), working after retirement (WAR), and long-term funding strategies. During her career she has testified to numerous legislative committees regarding various pension actuarial issues. Pat holds a B.S. in mathematics with a minor in actuarial science from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and has earned the following actuarial credentials: Fellow, Society of Actuaries Member, American Academy of Actuaries Enrolled Actuary under ERISA Fellow, Conference of Consulting Actuaries Brent Banister, Ph.D., FSA, EA, MAAA, FCA Chief Pension Actuary Brent Banister is Chief Pension Actuary at CMC. Since 1994, Brent has served as an actuarial consultant to numerous state and local government retirement systems. Brent's expertise covers such areas as public plan consulting, valuations, plan design, legislative impact analysis, experience studies, asset/liability models, and compliance with federal tax regulations and GASB accounting standards. He has worked extensively on retiree health care benefit plans as well as designing complex models to assist with benefit design and funding strategies. Brent regularly speaks on actuarial topics and has written articles on topics such as modeling and DROPs. Brent holds a Ph.D. in mathematics from Washington State University and has earned the following credentials: Fellow, Society of Actuaries Enrolled Actuary Member, American Academy of Actuaries Fellow, Conference of Consulting Actuaries Jonathan Craven, ASA, EA, MAAA, FCA Senior Actuary Jonathan is a Senior Actuary at CMC. Since 1992, he has served as a consultant to numerous governmental plans. Jonathan has experience with actuarial valuations, experience studies, actuarial impact statements, plan design studies, forecasting, deferred retirement option plans (DROP), partial lump sum option (PLOP), and retiree medical valuations. Jonathan is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of Florida State University where he earned a B.S. in finance. He also holds a Master of Actuarial Science degree from Georgia State University and has earned the following professional credentials: Associate, Society of Actuaries Enrolled Actuary under ERISA Member, Academy of Actuaries Fellow, Conference of Consulting Actuaries Eric Gary, FSA, MAAA, FCA Chief Health Actuary Eric is a Chief Health Actuary at CMC. Eric has worked in the insurance industry since 1991, with a focus in both actuarial and consulting disciplines. His background includes product development, pricing, reserving, financial analysis, administrative systems design and development, plan administration, and plan management. Eric has spent much of his career providing actuarial expertise and guidance on employee benefit plans and products. Eric has performed Other Post-Employment Benefits (OPEB) valuations for cities, counties, and states. Eric's work with OPEB clients includes claims cost development, data analysis, assumption setting, the development of valuation models, and both written and oral presentations of reports. Additionally, Eric has assisted in the development and pricing of healthcare products and insurance-based retirement products. Eric graduated from The Ohio State University with a B.S. degree in actuarial science. He is a credentialed professional actuary with the following designations: Fellow, Society of Actuaries Member, American Academy of Actuaries Fellow, Conference of Consulting Actuaries Brian Nichols, EA, MAAA Senior Actuary Brian is a senior actuary at CMC and has been working with pension and OPEB clients since 1994. Brian's background includes preparation and presentation of actuarial valuations (pension and OPEB), experience studies, claims analysis, projections and cost studies. Brian has experience with public sector, private sector and multi-employer clients providing consulting and actuarial services. Among his actuarial responsibilities are data preparation, assumptions setting, valuation coding and testing, and report preparation and presentation. He graduated from the University of Colorado with a B.A. in mathematics and is a credentialed actuary with the following designations: Enrolled Actuary under ERISA Member, American Academy of Actuaries Micki Taylor, ASA, EA, MAAA, FCA Senior Actuary Micki Taylor is a Senior Actuary at CMC. Since 1992, she has prepared annual valuations, special cost studies, retiree medical valuations, and is experienced in the design, administration and funding of retirement plans and health plans. She devotes 100% of her time to client work. Micki is a Cum Laude graduate of the University of Georgia where she earned a B.S. in chemistry. She also earned a Master of Actuarial Science degree from Georgia State University. Micki’s credentials include the following designations: Associate, Society of Actuaries Enrolled Actuary under ERISA Member, American Academy of Actuaries Fellow, Conference of Consulting Actuaries Justin Slaughter, ASA, ACA, MAAA Senior Actuarial Analyst Justin Slaughter is a Senior Actuarial Analyst at CMC and has worked in the actuarial field since 2007. He works primarily in the Health and Group Benefits arena, with a focus on GASB 43/45 OPEB valuations, setting reserves for Incurred but not Reported (IBNR) claims, Medicare Part D analyses and actuarial attestations, pharmacy claim audits, and other general health and group benefits related projects, such as budget projections and employee/retiree contribution strategies. In addition, Justin has experience in pricing, reserving and catastrophe modeling. Justin graduated from Berry College, with a B.S. in economics. He holds a master's degree in statistics from the University of Georgia. Justin's credentials include the following designations: Associate, Society of Actuaries Associate, Conference of Consulting Actuaries Member, American Academy of Actuaries In addition to the principals and actuaries listed above, CMC employs a large team of consultants and other staff to meet and exceed the needs of all our clients.