This section will cover the importing of two types of data into the model: tables and model point files. We'll start by making a copy of a Commission Rates table. Navigate to Assumption Management by clicking "Define" at the top of the page. Next, click the "Data Tables" button.
This will bring you to a list of Table Structures. Click on Commission Rates.
Click on the table "Library Commission Rates" on the left side. The screen will populate with the selected table, and additional controls will appear, including the Copy icon in the upper right. Click on that and enter the description, "My First Commission Rates Table". Click Save.
You will automatically be brought to My First Commission Rates Table. The first way to edit tables is to change the values within SLOPE. Find the row for Commission ID LIFE and Duration 1; click on the Commission Rate and change it from 0.25 to 0.30. Then click "Save Table" in the upper right. Also, click the Export button next to it.
You should now have a saved version of the update you made to the table as well as a download of a spreadsheet of the table. The second way to edit tables is to import them from Excel. We'll start with the exported table we just downloaded. Open it up and enable editing, then find the row for Commission ID LIFE and Duration 2; change the Commission Rate from 0.02 to 0.03.
Now, save the spreadsheet and go back to SLOPE. This time, we'll want to import our spreadsheet back into SLOPE, so click on the Import icon in the upper right.
This will bring up the Import From Excel window. Click "Add new file..." and navigate to your copy of "My First Commission Rates Table.xlsx". Since the spreadsheet only had one tab, the "Excel Sheet Name" entry is automatically populated. Click Save to overwrite the table in SLOPE with the table you modified.
For our model point files, we'll start with a template for Term Life. Navigate to Model Development by clicking "Develop" at the top of the page. Click on the Products button, then click on the Term Life row.
Next, click on "Edit Model Point File Definition" on the upper right, then on "Download File Template" below it. This will download an unpopulated model point file in the form of an Excel Spreadsheet.
You should have a spreadsheet titled "Term_Life_ModelPoints.xlsx" with a row of headers at the top of a sheet called "ModelPoints". The fields in the model point file definition should match the headers in the model point file.
Note that this template can be integrated into your existing spreadsheets. The order of the columns can be changed, extra columns can be inserted, and the values in the cells can be replaced with formulas. It is required to have each of the fields listed in the top row, and each row should be populated with a value for each field; so long as that requirement is met, the file is ready to be imported.
Let's make some quick changes to the spreadsheet. First, let's rename the sheet into "Term Life MPF". Next, let's populate the first row of data (row 2 of the spreadsheet) with the values in the list below. Finally, let's save this file as "My First MPF.xlsx".
- Policy ID: 1
- Issue Date: 1/1/2010
- Face Amount: 100,000
- Policy Count: 1
- Plan Code: LT10
- Issue Age: 25
- Gender: M
- Smoker Status: NS
- Initial Premium: 755.2
- Premiums Per Year: 1
- Risk Class: Preferred
To save time, you can download the spreadsheet below that not only includes the Term Life model point file you've just generated, but also the model point files for the remaining three products.