UK & Portugal
Darras Actuarial operates from two locations: Newcastle upon Tyne and Lisbon. This setup allows us to effectively cater to both UK and European clients. Both our teams, whether in Newcastle or Lisbon, are focused on delivering consistent actuarial services to meet client needs.
Executive team
Stephan le Roes FIA
Chief Executive Officer
Stephan joined Darras Consulting in 2018 having previously worked at Willis Towers Watson in the UK and Portugal where he managed various teams. A Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries with two decades of pensions experience, with the last decade focused on transitioning UK actuarial work to highly skilled, and cost effective, markets such as Portugal. Stephan has also been a working party member for the Institute of Actuaries that has published various articles and guides for actuaries. In his spare time he enjoys tennis, travelling with his family and working on his sailing skills.
Graeme Charlton FIA
Non Executive Chairman
Graeme was the original founder of Darras Consulting in 1997. A Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries with over 30 years industry experience he was also instrumental in establishing the Lisbon office in 2019 and led the business from Portugal until the management buy-out in 2025. He now provides strategic business advice to both the UK and Portuguese operations when not enjoying his hobbies of golf, travel and following Newcastle United.
John Quinn
Chief Technology Officer
John joined Darras Consulting in 2013 having previously worked at Buck Consultants in Dublin, Ireland. Based in our Lisbon office, John is an Actuarial Consultant with over 20 years pensions experience. His main role at Darras has been to lead and deliver large actuarial projects for our clients (e.g. pricing and updating trades, 'GMP Equalisation' and building automated 'Benefit Models' producing DB retirement calculations in bulk). Outside of the office John enjoys spending time with his family, running and following Manchester United.
Joe O'Flaherty FIA
Head of Actuarial
Having joined Buck Consultants in 2006, Joe has worked as a consultant on UK and Irish pension schemes. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries and holds a postgraduate diploma in Data Analytics. On joining Darras Consulting in 2018, his main focus has been on automating and improving calculation delivery, supporting new business projects and managing actuarial projects. In his spare time he enjoys travel and spending time with friends and family.
Team
André Estrada
Actuarial Analyst
André joined Darras Consulting in 2023 with previous experience at Willis Towers Watson in Portugal working with UK and German pension schemes. With a special focus on pension rectification bulk exercises, he has also had significant exposure to the GMP. Originally from Leiria, but now based in Lisbon, André is involved in bulk model calculations. He is currently pursuing the Certified Actuarial Analyst qualification. André dedicates his spare time to his family and developing cooking skills, but he also has a big commitment to his scouts activities.
António Crespo
Actuarial Consultant
António has been with Darras since 2021 in a dual role as actuarial consultant and technology and automation expert. With a Ph.D. in physics/mathematical modeling, he has previously worked as a financial services consultant at Accenture, in the areas of international payments and foreign exchange. Over time, António has developed expertise in technology, automation and robotics, strategically combining these skills to drive innovation in his various roles. Outside of his professional commitments, he enjoys reading and is a follower of science news.
Bruno Rocha
Actuarial Consultant and Programmer
Bruno joined Darras Consulting in 2021 having previously worked at Willis Towers Watson in the UK and Portugal where he developed and managed work for several UK clients. He also worked at KPMG Portugal and Angola on various projects for clients in the banking and insurance industry and as the Head of Compliance for a Portuguese insurance company. Bruno is a part-qualified actuary with an MBA and likes to keep processes as efficient as they can be through automations, using his coding skills, applying the time saved on tasks where he or a member of the team can add more value. In his spare time, he likes to run, read and travel.
Dan Rose FIA
Actuary
Dan joined Darras Consulting in 2019 having previously worked for various UK pensions consultancies, including Mercer. During that time, he managed and set up multiple teams and spent time winning work for them. He spent a lot of his career transitioning UK valuation work to highly skilled and specialised teams. A Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries with over 17 years pensions experience, Dan continues to enjoy getting stuck into valuations and training the new joiners to share his passion. In his spare time he enjoys running, spending time with his family and friends and swimming in the Atlantic Ocean.
Daniela Pires
Actuarial Consultant
Daniela joined Darras Consulting in 2022 having previously worked at Willis Towers Watson in Portugal where she was involved in different workstreams related to UK actuarial work, including managing the team responsible for individual calculations. An Associate of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries with over 10 years of experience in the pension market, she is always keen to be involved in complex technical matters. Her focus is both producing high level technical work and ensuring coaching and upskilling on all teams she is part of. Daniela is also a Lecturer at ISEG, the top institution for Actuarial Studies in Portugal and acted as a supervisor and jury for several Master's thesis / reports. In her free time, Daniela enjoys travelling, trying new restaurants and practising yoga.
Filipa Montez
Actuarial Analyst
Filipa joined Darras Consulting in 2022 having previously worked for Willis Towers Watson in Portugal. Filipa is experienced in UK and European actuarial valuations including a secondment to the Philippines to better understand how actuarial work can be outsourced in an effective manner. In her spare time she enjoys travelling with friends and following figure skating championships.
Graça Pereira Coutinho
Actuarial Analyst
Graça joined Darras Consulting in 2022 having previously worked at Isio in Manchester, UK where she worked as consultant and actuarial analyst for UK pension schemes. With 5 years of experience in UK pensions, she is always keen to learn more. Graça is also very detailed-focus when doing the calculations for our clients. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with family and friends, painting, reading and walking in nature.
João Reis
Actuarial Consultant
João joined Darras Consulting in 2023 after having worked at Willis Towers Watson in Portugal, where he lead the technical efforts of a new team and gained experience on several UK pensions actuarial services. After studying theoretical physics, he discovered actuarial science and is now studying to become an actuary. João enjoys weightlifting and running in his spare time, as well as keeping up with all related new tech.
Karen Kelly FIA
Actuary
Karen joined Darras Consulting in 2013. She previously worked at Swiss Re in London in reinsurance pricing and also risk management. A fellow of the Institute of Actuaries with over 20 years of pensions experience. In her spare time she enjoys travelling with her family, skiing and playing tennis and padel.
Manuel Pinheiro
Actuarial Consultant
In past roles, he contributed as an Actuarial Analyst and Project Manager for a prominent NASDAQ-listed insurance services firm and as a Data Analyst at Talkdesk, a SaaS unicorn start-up. Manuel's academic accomplishments include an MSc in Monetary and Financial Economics, bolstered by a postgraduate degree in Enterprise Data Science and Analytics. Outside the office, he indulges in music production, coding-up personal projects, and embracing the joys of both cityscape walks and hikes amidst nature.
Marisa Dias
Actuarial Analyst
Marisa joined Darras Consulting in 2022 having previously worked at Willis Tower Watson in Lisbon. With a diverse career spanning various industries, including education and aviation, her background in mathematics, passion for numbers and problem-solving, led her to pursue a career in actuarial science. With 6 years of experience, she has focused on data analysis and DB pension calculations for bulk annuity transactions. Beyond her professional pursuits, she dedicates her spare time to maintaining a healthy lifestyle, capturing moments through photography, and travelling with her family and friends.
Nuno Graça
Actuarial Analyst
Nuno joined Darras Consulting in 2022, having previously worked as a Manager at KPMG. He has more than ten years of experience in the finance area, having worked with banks, insurance companies and pension funds. A certified Financial Risk Manager ® by GARP, he blends his finance, actuarial and accounting skills to reach the best outcomes for our clients.
Patrícia Pires
Actuarial Consultant
Patrícia joined Darras Consulting in 2023 having previously worked at Willis Towers Watson Portugal for over 3 years where she worked on automation of pension schemes as well as actuarial calculations. She is also experienced in providing training and documentation of processes. Patricia has a master’s degree in actuarial science, Statistics, and Operational Research. She did her thesis in GMP Conversion which she applies in her daily work. In her free time, she enjoys travelling with family and friends, going to concerts and appreciating good restaurants.
Paulo Simões
Actuarial Analyst
Paulo joined Darras Consulting in 2022 after working at Isio in Manchester, UK as an actuarial analyst for UK pension schemes. Having nearly a decade of experience in UK pensions and with experience in leading different teams and projects, he enjoys the challenge of keeping himself and his team with a positive and focused spirit, whilst tackling the complexity of the UK pensions whilst ensuring his work is issued within the target deadlines. In his spare time, he enjoys reading, travelling and playing padel.
Pedro Jordão
Actuarial Consultant
Pedro joined Darras Consulting in 2023 having previously worked at WTW Portugal. With a background in Mathematics and 2 years of experience, he focused on automation of DB schemes and individual calculations. He was also involved in process development and giving training. In his spare time he enjoys to travel and experience new cultures, cooking and playing tennis.
Pei Shi Lim
Software Engineer
Pei Shi has over 3 years of experience in software engineering, after graduating from Imperial College London with a degree in Bioengineering. She joins Darras Consulting after Rothesay, where she worked primarily on Reinsurance deal onboarding, working with a tech stack of Python, React, and SQL among others. In her spare time, she is an avid reader and enjoys playing tennis.
Renato Franca
Actuarial Analyst
Renato joined Darras Consulting in 2022 having previously worked at Willis Towers Watson in Lisbon during which has been focus on UK actuarial work. At Willis Towers Watson Renato has managed several teams and actuarial projects including establishing new service lines in Lisbon. In his spare time he enjoys his time with his family and friends.
Roger Guest CFA
Data Analytics Consultant
Roger trained as a fixed income product analyst in London for 5 years prior to moving into the pensions risk transfer industry. A Chartered Financial Analyst, Roger joined Rothesay in 2015 and has since worked as an analyst and manager across the Buy-In, Buy-Out and Reinsurance products. Roger has extensive experience managing the new deal onboarding process, working closely with internal technology and actuarial departments to migrate large datasets and implement controlled operational processes covering the full trade lifecycle. Outside of work he enjoys spending time with his family, running, playing tennis and skiing.
Sara Teixeira
Actuarial Consultant
Sara joined Darras Consulting in 2023 having previously worked at Willis Towers Watson in Portugal, where she was involved in several UK pension related projects. Based in our Lisbon Office, she possesses a keen enthusiasm for acquiring additional knowledge concurrent with achieving precise calculations. In her free time, Sara enjoys nature walks, reading books, and exploring new places.
João Cunha
Actuarial Analyst
João joined Darras Consulting in 2025, after previously working at Willis Towers Watson in Portugal for about 4 years. Having studied Engineering Physics, he discovered actuarial science by chance. However, his strong background in mathematics and problem-solving led to a natural transition to actuarial work. At WTW, João contributed as an Actuarial Analyst on bulk calculations for large UK pension schemes, with additional experience in GMP equalisation. In his spare time, João is passionate about sports, particularly tennis and padel. He also enjoys traveling with friends/family, and the occasional nap with his cat.
Kathryn Grayling FIA
Actuary
Katie joined Darras Consulting in 2024 having spent the past 18 years working in trustee pension consulting, remediation projects and GMP rectification. She has been a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries since 2010 and in her spare time enjoys hiking and spending time with friends and family.
