Sasha Woodroffe, a consultant with KR Services Limited, recently qualified as an Associate of the US Society of Actuaries, the largest professional organization for actuaries in the world. This makes her the only professionally qualified actuary currently working in Guyana. Ms. Woodroffe holds a BSc in Actuarial Science from The University of the West Indies (UWI) St Augustine Campus, and is the first Guyanese from that programme to qualify as an actuary.
The actuarial profession is usually rated as one of the top three jobs in the USA, and the exams are considered some of the hardest to pass of any profession. Actuaries “manage risk”. They “use advanced mathematical and analytical methods to help organizations investigate complex issues, identify and solve problems, and make better decisions”. They are heavily involved in all forms of insurance and pensions, but also work in banking and finance and other areas with complex modelling, such as transportation, energy, and the environment.
Ms. Woodroffe has a long history of success. While at Queen’s College from 2008 to 2015, she won the 2013 CXC regional award for CSEC Business Studies and was a top national CAPE performer in 2014 and 2015. She received a CXC/UWI Scholarship which she used to attend UWI, St. Augustine. She also won the Caribbean Actuarial Scholarships in 2016 and 2017, from the US Actuarial Foundation. Ms. Woodroffe is currently an active member of the Caribbean Actuarial Association.
The daughter of Brian and Shelly Woodroffe, she is also an active member of her church youth group and an excellent role model for young Guyanese students seeking to make a difference in their nation and region.
Graduating from UWI St Augustine in 2018 with first-class honours, Ms. Woodroffe was the Valedictorian for the Faculty of Science & Technology Prize Giving Ceremony. She won the annual Head of Department prize twice, and the 2015 prize for Scientific and Technical Writing. Ms. Woodroffe’s excellence extended into her extracurricular activities, serving as secretary and president of UWI’s Actuarial Science Club and secretary of the Student Senate.
The UWI St Augustine Actuarial Science programme was established in 2011 and is headed by Mr. Stokeley Smart, who is also an actuary. Mr. Smart said “I wish to congratulate Ms. Woodroffe on the attainment of this significant milestone as she continues what can only be described as a demonstrated record of excellence. She has done the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, the Faculty of Science and Technology and the University proud”.
After UWI, Ms. Woodroffe worked at the Bank of Guyana from 2018 to 2020 in the Insurance Supervision Department. In 2020, she became the first Guyanese based consultant of the Caribbean actuarial firm, KR Services Limited (KRS) where she focuses on life insurance consulting, working on valuations and advisory work such as IFRS 17 for clients operating throughout the Caribbean.
Founded and headed by veteran Caribbean actuary Mr. Kyle Rudden in 1997, KRS provides actuarial consulting services to a wide variety of clients in the Caribbean, and beyond. The company’s services are based on a strong, values-based ethos and a commitment to human, national and regional development.
Of note, Mr. Rudden began his actuarial career at Acumen Limited, which was founded by Guyanese born actuary Mr. Richard Kellman. Acumen was the first
Caribbean-owned actuarial consultancy in the South Caribbean, and part of its mission was the training, development, and retention of actuaries in the region, reversing the “brain-drain”. Acumen no longer exists, but its legacy resonates through the work of KRS.
KRS congratulates Sasha Woodroffe on her achievement!
