NEW

Multiyear Projections with New Entrant Capabilities

Multiyear projections now have the ability to accept a new entrant profile and a parameterized policy for future new employees using Dynamic Sales. Learn more here.

Present Value of Accrued Benefits and Service Cost discounted using a yield curve 

Projections now have the ability to capture the Present Value of Accrued Benefits as well as the Service Cost (Traditional Unit Credit Accrual) using a full yield curve rather than a single discount rate. Checking the ‘Calculate PV of Accrued Benefits’ box on the Liability Calculation Controls (table) will achieve this.

Enhancements

Details of Calculation of Annuity Payment Form Factors is now available in the Active Trace Life Workbook  

The details of payment form factors for annuity forms of payment are now detailed and displayed in the active trace life workbook. 

Alternate model point field for hypothetical account balance in a Cash Balance plan  

A field is now provided on table structure “Plan Structure – Cash Balance or Career Average” to allow a user to pass in an alternate model point field to use as the account balance as of the valuation date.

Ability to provide percentages for the retiree / beneficiary / joint in Joint and Survivor Annuities from alternate model point fields for records in payment at the projection start date 

3 new columns have been added in data table structure ‘Retiree Annuity Form Mapping” to allow users to pass in the name of a Model Point Field that contains the percentages necessary to calculate a joint annuity.

Sensitivity Runs for Discount Rates and Salary Scales

A table entry has been provided to allow for different scenarios in the same projection to apply loads to discount rate and salary scale. Standard pension workbooks have been set to filter to the first scenario. A filter has been provided on these workbooks to toggle to different scenarios. Learn more here.

Vested Terminated Records that use Participant Data for Beneficiary Age now reflect that information for Joint and Survivor Benefit Definitions

In projections where the Data Table “Participant Age and Date Logic” have an entry other than “Use Assumptions” in the column “Vested Terminated Beneficiary Age at Valuation”, the marriage assumption will be set to either 0 or 1 for a Vested Terminated record, based on whether the provided field has an entry. This will affect the calculation of Joint and Survivor Annuities as well as death benefits. 

Active Trace Life and Pension Liabilities by Definition Workbooks provide Rate of Pay at Valuation 

The workbooks for Active Trace Lives and Summary of Pension Liabilities have been modified to provide an additional measurement of compensation. The new field is called “Rate of Pay at Valuation Date”. This field will reflect the reported and annualized compensation for all active employee records at the projection start date regardless if they are at or past their Ultimate Retirement Age.

Trace Life Dashboard now shows details on payment form factor calculations for Life Annuities.

Change

Update to the Projection Limit (time) Variable

Projection Limit (time) will now stop the projection calculations at the later of the time the participant or his/her beneficiary achieves age 115. Previously, projection calculations were terminated at the earlier of the time the participant or spouse achieves age 115.

Fixes

• Resolved issue with logic in Retiree Deferred Lump Sum calculation.
• The calculation of Present Value of Future Benefits and Entry Age Service Cost will now permit a negative result. These were previously limited to never be less than 0.

New

HPM Debug Mode and Computation Profiling

HPM Debug Mode

We have released some powerful new tools within High Performance Mode to help with troubleshooting models and improving model efficiency

When a projection is able to run in High Performance Mode, you can now enable “Debug Mode” as well. This option will limit your run to a subset of scenarios and model points, and will automatically enable other projection settings necessary for troubleshooting including Output All Results. Read more about HPM Debug Mode here.

Computation Profiling

Computation Profiling is an option for HPM Debug runs that tracks the computations done across variables within a model. This powerful feature can highlight where the model is doing the most work and pinpoint inefficiencies. Profiling also allows you to see the proportion of work done at each variable level and in the main vs. post projection loops. Read more about Computation Profiling here.

Enhancements

Retain Formula Per Array Value in Formula Builder

Within a variable’s properties, you can now seamlessly switch from a static array to a two-dimensional array without losing the formulas per array value. As long at the original array is one of the two dimensions, you can switch and retain all formuals.

Output Model Point Results for Future Time Periods (HPM)

For projections run in High Performance Mode, you can now output future time period results at the model point level.

Minimum and Maximum Aggregation for Product and Portfolio Variables

When referencing a Product array variable within a Portfolio variable, or referencing a Portfolio array variable within a Company variable, there are now the additional “MIN” and “MAX” options for aggregation.

Fixes

• Resolved an issue where duplicate results could get written when hardware failures occur
• Column in allocation Model Point File is no longer being ignored when the same inforce product does not have the column
• Debug View shows the proper time controls when selecting a Force Recalc variable
• Debug View again shows results for Force Recalc non-static array value
• Improved error message when scaling a model point field fails during new business/investment due to missing model point field
• Projection should no longer fail to start while parsing a large scenario file

Enhancements

“Copy Only” Model Permissions is now “Copy”

Model permissions are now more flexible. Users can enable the “Copy” permission for a model along with other combinations of model permissions. For example, you can grant users permissions for “Copy” and “Model Execution”, and “Model Results”. See this support article for more information on model permissions.

Get Projection Endpoint Returns Configured Data Tables

The Get Projection API Endpoint will now return all data tables configured on a given projection. Additionally, there is a new, optional “Fields” parameter which allows you to filter the top-level fields that get returned. We encourage using this parameter to reduce the amount of data being returned and to make your API calls faster.

Links to Sales Allocations from Projection

You can now link directly to a Sales Allocation from a Projection or Projection Template.

Fixes

• The selected virtual folders now remains selected after deleting a projection from the folder
• Re-uploading a Scenario file to the same folder no longer changes Rate Type and Interpolation Method
• Performance optimization to the Get Projection API endpoint

UPDATE: Important information about new warnings and errors on your models. 

On September 25^th, we released a new validation feature related to calculated range arrays used in formulas. This validation is designed to prevent users from accidentally projecting range array values that don’t exist at certain time periods. Following the next Slope Library Update (ETA November), these validation warnings will become errors for Cores and HPM Projections. See this post for more information and contact us at support@slopesoftware.com with any questions.

REMINDER: Important information about new warnings and errors on your models. 

On September 25^th, we released a new validation feature related to calculated range arrays used in formulas. This validation is designed to prevent users from accidentally projecting range array values that don’t exist at certain time periods. On October 23^rd, these validation warnings become errors for Cores and HPM Projections. See this post for more information and contact us at support@slopesoftware.com with any questions.

Enhancements

Better Searching in Formula Builder

It’s now easier to find the functions you need in the Formula Builder. We have added several new keywords to help build your formulas faster. For example, looking for the “Minimum” function? Search “Minimum” to find the “Aggregate (Minimum)” function.

Set Specific Module Permissions on a Model Shared with Everyone

For models that are shared with everyone, permissions can now be configured for individual modules (e.g. Model Development or Assumption Management). This granularity allows you to quickly enable and disable access for specific modules for all users in the workspace providing more efficient and granular control.

Aggregate Product Level Range Array Variables at the Portfolio Level

It is now possible to reference a product variable that’s aggregated and uses a product level calculated range array within a portfolio variable.

Additional Enhancements

• Searching is now supported in the list of Table Structures so you can type in the name of a table structure to filter down the list.
• The selected Table Structure will now show as highlighted in grey in the Table Structure list.
• Links to Investment Strategies now show on projections for ease of navigation

• Data Table columns in a Table Structure will show the Table Structure name of the nested table on hover

• Older versions of scenario tables can be selected in scenario table columns in table structures

Fixes

• We are now correctly ignoring non-required model point fields that are set to scale on purchase or sale when issuing new business
• Model Point Files are no longer being marked as “not validated” when they are moved in file manager
• We are again correctly validating a formula when it has a one dimensional array set in the properties and an invalid reference to Dimension 2 in the formula
• We fixed a formatting issue when viewing formulas from the Table Structure Relationship View
• Resolved an issue with newly introduced validation that resulted in a temporary result discrepancy on pension projections that used range arrays run on Thursday, September 26.

Please read this important communication as you may soon start to see new warnings and errors on your models. 

On September 25^th, we will be rolling out a new validation feature related to calculated range arrays used in formulas. This validation is designed to prevent users from accidentally projecting range array values that don’t exist at certain time periods. Today, if you don’t use an array aggregation and you project backwards or forwards in time, you might cause certain array values to be calculated when those array values didn’t previously exist at the referenced time period.

When this validation goes live, you may see some additional warnings in your Cores projections. Initially, these warnings will not prevent you from running your projections. You will have until October 23^rd to resolve these warnings. After that, we will enforce these warnings as errors. Note that warnings will only be visible for projections run using Cores, but errors will show in Cores and High Performance Mode.

September 25^th: New validation warnings for Cores Projections

October 23^rd: Validation warnings become errors for Cores and HPM Projections

Why are there errors in a model that I copied from the Slope Library?

The Individual Disability Income product in the Slope Life Library  (versions 2024.03 and earlier) contains variables that use calculated range arrays, project forward or backward, and do not use array aggregation. A new version of the Slope Life Library (2024.10) will be published in October with a modification to the Individual Disability Income product. Once it’s released, you can use the Governance module to merge these changes from the new Slope Library model to your models.

What sort of formula will cause this warning/error?

Formulas that use calculated range arrays and incorrectly project backwards or forwards to time periods where the current array value doesn’t exist may start to see these validation messages.

Example

Below is a section of the Time in Benefit Period End variable formula where the array set in the variable properties is a Calculated Range Array. Today, this setup will not cause an error, but it may calculate array values that don’t exist for a given time period. With the new validation, this will result in a warning, and eventually an error. 

For demonstration purposes, if we modify this formula to use a Single Value (Formula) aggregation, we can replicate the behavior of the new validation we will be rolling out.  With this set up, if the formula encounters an array value that doesn’t exist at the given time, it will (correctly) error.

What do I need to do in the short term?

When the new validation goes live, you may start to see new warnings on projections run using Cores. We suggest you resolve these warnings before they become errors on October 23^rd. 

Why don’t I see warnings in HPM?

Warnings are not currently supported for High Performance Mode runs. When the validation begins, you will only see warnings if you run your model using Cores. After October 23^rd, the warnings will become errors. The errors will be visible whether you run a projection in Cores or HPM.

If you have any questions, or if you need help updating your model, please reach out to us at support@slopesoftware.com.

New

Multi-Year Projections

There is now a toggle to calculate multi-year projections and a column for the ‘Years to Capture Results’ on the Liability Calculation Controls table.

The “Multi-Year Projection” workbook can now be found in the Slope Pension & OPEB folder. This workbook includes the present value of Future Benefits, Accrued Liabilities, Service Costs, Expected Benefit Payment Streams, Future expected salary levels and future expected head counts.

Enhancements

Non-Compounding COLA for Active and Vested Terminated Payment Forms

The library now includes parameters on the “Benefit Definition – Payment Form” table to permit non-compounding Cost of Living Adjustments for payment forms for active and vested terminated benefit definitions.

Updated Compensation History Interface

A second new interface to define compensation history using a flat participant data file for all participant data that has been provided. This serves as an easier to use alternative to the old interface.

Modified Cash Refund Annuity for Active and Vested Terminated Records

The parameters for Modified Cash Refund Annuity forms of payment have been refined to allow more granular control for Active and Vested Terminated records.

Change

Update to the Projection Limit (time) Variable”

Projection Limit (time) will now stop the projection calculations at the later of the time the participant or his/her beneficiary achieves age 115. Previously, projection calculations were terminated at the earlier of the time the participant or spouse achieves age 115.

Other product variables impacted: “Age Beneficiary (Unrounded)”,  “Age (Unrounded)”

New product variable: “Age Beneficiary (Unrounded) preliminary”

Fixes

• “Age Beneficiary Unrounded” logic has been corrected to avoid inconsistency in projections of beneficiary ages for a very specific configuration of retiree parameters.

New

Academy Interest Rate Generator

The 2024, 2023, and 2022 versions of the Academy’s Interest Rate Generator are now available in Economic Scenario Generation.

Enhancements

Additional Settings for Internal Rate of Return Formula

Users can now configure a maximum number of iterations, seed values, and tolerance within the IRR formula.

Additional Enhancements

• Links to Table Structures now show on projections for ease of navigation
• Various enhancements to HPM stability and performance

Change

Scenario Tables on Projections have moved! Now configure your scenario table with the other tables in your projection.

Fixes

• Data tables are now being versioned correctly after deleting or updating a decrement table, improvement scale, or scenario table
• Scenario tables are again showing in run projections after being deleted
• Better error handling when array lookup fails due to a blank table value
• We now show specific validation when a scenario file does not contain the scenario number in the filter

New

Export Variable Properties and Formulas for Model Documentation

Users can now extract a list of their variables with the properties, tags, documentation, formula, last modified date and user to provide model documentation for audits, regulators, internal review and troubleshooting. Learn more here.

Multi-Factor Authentication

Slope users can now setup multi-factor authentication (MFA) without having to be on Single Sign On. To configure MFA, click the user menu in the top right of the application > Administration > Privacy and Security tab.

New API Endpoints

• Copy Projection Endpoint: Allows users to copy an existing projection ID instead of having to create a projection template.
• Get Decrement Table Endpoint: Allows users to get the decrement tables on their model including the ID, name, type, improvement year and select period frequency.

Read more about the available Slope API Endpoints here.

Enhancements

Use Annual Effective Rate for Short-Term Interpolation on Scenario Tables

Users can now specify how the short-term spot rates (durations 0-5 months) on scenario tables are calculated. In the past, the short term interpolation method was always from zero. Now users can select to interpolate from zero or use the annual effective rate.

All existing scenario tables will remain set to ‘from zero’ but newly created tables will have ‘Use annual effective rate’ selected by default.

NOTE: This parameter will be added to the Post and Patch Scenario Table endpoints on the API in the future. In the interim, the API will default to using the annual effective rate for the short term interpolation method.

Additional Enhancements

• A model copy performance improvement was made to reduce the time users need to wait for their model to finish copying.
• Only the headers and elements with errors on the validation details screen will show in red to prevent users from thinking there are errors on objects that do not have any errors.
• The model point default value will be used when the column does not exist in the model point file and the field is not required on the model point file definition.

Fixes

• API users will no longer get a 500 error when uploading the same model point filter on two products at once.
• Resolved a ‘No data table found’ error on some projections with long running static products.
• Resolved a ‘Failed to start’ error on projections when the scenario structure does not have any yield curve points on it.
• Resolved a model copy issue that was resulting in the copy hanging when projection templates were included.
• Data table headers are no longer case sensitive on import.
• Extra columns in a file are again being ignored when uploading a data table.

New

High Performance Mode Available for Projections with New Business

High Performance Mode (HPM) now supports projections that include New Business so that users can dynamically issue new sales (model points) in their projection when running in HPM. For more information on High Performance Mode and which projections are supported, visit our support article here.

Enhancements

Variable List Now Shows Error Count

Users will now see an error counter at the top of the variable list to indicate the number of variables that have errors on them.

API Update: GET Projection Endpoint Additions

API users will now be able to get the following portfolio and product information from the GET Projections endpoint:

API Update: GET Data Tables/List Endpoint

API users will now be able to get a list of data tables either for a specific table structure or model ID. Learn more on our API documentation page.

Reporting: Repeat Row Labels

Users can now format pivot tables with multiple pivot rows to repeat row labels within their workbook element.

Reporting: Placeholder Text in Control Elements

Users can now customize the placeholder text for any input-based control elements (List Values, Text Input, Number Input, Date, and Date range) to provide context about the expected input.

Merge Differences in Tags on Variables

The model governance module will now show tag differences between two variables (with the same name) and allow the user to merge the tag to the target variable.

Fixes

• Debug view is now updating the formula with a different formula per array value for the second dimension of 2 dimensional arrays.
• Reduced Failed to Start Errors resulting from AWS request denials.
• Improved run log and debug tab loading performance.
• Again showing ‘Out of Memory’ message when a projection runs out of memory while finishing the inserting of results.
• Model point filters will apply the correct filter field when duplicating a projection and filtering on a field that is not the first field.
• Variables only referenced by a sales allocation variable will again display in the output.
• Now showing the correct result for projections run in Cores when forward projecting a company array variable with a Single Value (formula) aggregate that relies on a two dimensional aggregate variable.

Updated Experience Study Library 2024.05 and Documentation

We have published a new version of the Experience Study Library Model, named “Experience Study 2024.05”, which includes the following updates and fixes:

Updates

• Can now filter inputs by status codes in addition to Plan and Policy IDs
• Added a full set of generic rate inputs for Claim Incidence in addition to the existing mortality and lapse rate inputs. This can be used for any measurement of claims incidence rate such as disability or other policyholder election rates.

Fixes

• Fixed calculations that sometimes resulted in slightly more/less exposure being attributed to a policy year in leap years for policies issued in the month of February.
• Corrected an issue in the conversion from annual to monthly factors for mortality and lapse rates.

Additional Documentation

Additionally, we have published three new articles for Experience Studies on the Slope support site:

• Overview of the Experience Study Library
• Experience Study Parameter Details
• Guide to Setting Up an Experience Study

New Bermuda BSCR Workbook

A new “Bermuda Capital” workbook has been published to show the details of the Bermuda Solvency Capital at a Company level.

This workbook is available in the Slope System workspace under the Bermuda folder.

Note that this workbook does not yet support additional requirements from the Bermuda Consultation Paper dated July 28, 2023 (CP2). An updated version of this workbook will be published alongside upcoming updates to the Life Library to calculate these additional requirements.