August 2021: Valuation Workflow API, Changes to ‘Output Variable’ Property, Scenario Enhancements + More

NEW

API to Automate your Valuation Workflow

The Slope API now covers full valuation workflow automation so clients can increase valuation reporting cycle efficiency. Interested clients should speak with their account representative to learn more.

CHANGES

‘Output Variable’ property has been split into two unique settings.

To give users more granular control of their projection runs, we now have ‘Output Variable’ and ‘Always Calculated’ settings.

The ‘Output Variable’ setting indicates if the variable is output to the reporting module during model execution. This setting should be unchecked for intermediate calculations that do not need to be used for reporting to aid with run time performance.  

The ‘Always Calculated’ setting should be unchecked if you wish to skip calculating this variable when it is not referenced. Previously, all product and portfolio aggregate variables were always calculated even if they were not directly referenced by another variable.

IMPROVEMENTS

Economic Scenario Enhancements

  • When using the New York 7 Economic Scenario Generator, you can now pull the US Treasury rates for a given start date from the SLOPE interface with the click of a button. 
  • Economic Scenarios can now be downloaded directly from the Economic Scenarios Tables screen so that you don’t have to navigate to File Manager to download.
  • Users can now run a projection without a scenario file if none of the variables contain a Scenario Table Formula or Present Value

Investment Strategy Enhancements

  • Investment strategies can now be copied so existing strategies can be used as a starting point rather than creating all new strategies from scratch. 
  • Users can now view older versions of investment strategies from sales and asset allocations views. Older versions are available in read-only mode. 

Additional Improvements

  • Dates can now be used for Min/Max array aggregation so that you can get the earliest or latest date from a set of array results.
  • Updated labels on Product-related entities across the site to provide clarity (e.g. Model Development → Model → ‘Products’ button updated to ‘Product Definitions’). 
  • Split Mortality Tables into their own section on the Inputs Used Page for clarity. 
  • Updated the following to sort in alphabetical order:
    • Drop downs found within the Confirm Merge modal 
    • Tags within the variable filter drop down
    • Mortality tables on the Mortality Table Detail screen

FIXES

  • Goal seek formulas now automatically calculate the target variable without requiring ‘Always Calculate’ to be set.
  • Arrays that recursively reference themselves will produce the correct output.
  • Time Index controls now properly update when switching between Force Recalc variables on the debug view.
  • Formula validation errors now consistently display upon load of a variable with errors.
  • Invalid date format errors in file-only tables now have a descriptive error message.
  • The Change Management UI will now display the different names and versions of model point files in the comparison pane.

Library Update 2021.8: Five New Products, Optimizations, and Updates

New Products

  • Structured Assets (MBS, ABS, CLO)
  • Critical Illness
  • Hospital Indemnity
  • Externally Projected Liability
  • Stock Option

Updates

  • Support for Secondary guarantee calculations was added to the Universal Life product
  • New functionality was added to all Bond products (Non-Callable, Callable, Sinking Fund, and Floating Rate) to allow for the initial par value or credit spread to be solved for upon issue for reinvestment assets
  • US STAT And US GAAP Variable Tags were updated on all products and portfolios for consistent coverage
  • The Cash Flow Start Time variable on all Products was updated to point to centralized Cash Flow Start Time at the Company Variable level for ease of updating
  • Commonly used pricing metrics were added to All liability products and a new Pricing variable tag was added to these calculations
  • Fix to Sinking Fund product factors
  • Policy Count roll-forward variables were added to all Liability Products
  • Reinsurance Tables and logic were updated to add support for minimum retention limits and excess reinsurance
  • A new Run Settings variable was added to the Company level to control high-level functionality across the entire Library

Fixes

  • All Present Value Formulas across the Library were updated to use the time periods to be more efficient
  • Market Value calculations for Mortgages and Sinking Fund Bonds were updated to correctly reflect the impacts of prepayment assumptions
  • The Number In Force variable on the Sinking Fund Bond was updated to remove the sink percent which was previously resulting in double counting of cash flow reductions in the market values of this product