The following are general guidelines used in setting up variable names within the SLOPE Life Library. While users have the flexibility to use any name they choose in setting variable names within their models, the following guidelines can provide a starting framework for building models from existing products within the SLOPE Life Library.
General Guidelines
- Variable Names should use complete words whenever possible.
- Each word in a variable name should have the first letter capitalized and all other letters as lower case.
- Any acronyms used in variable names should be ALL CAPS.
- Place a single space between each word/acronym.
- Avoid the use of special characters when possible, including the following:
- Underscored _
- Apostrophe ‘
- Colon :
- Semi-Colon ;
- Parentheses ()
- Quotation Marks “
- Sub-Groupings within a single category should be separated with a single hyphen with a space before and after. Example: “US STAT Reserve - Reinsurance”
Prefixes
Accounting Bases
All variables that are specifically related to a specific assumption and calculation basis, including various accounting standards, will have a variable prefix as follows:
BMA |
Bermuda Monetary Authority |
IFRS |
International Financial Reporting Standards |
SOLVENCY II |
Solvency II |
TAX |
Tax Reporting |
US GAAP |
United States Generally Accepted Accounting Principles |
US STAT |
United States Statutory |
PRICING |
Any variable related to liability pricing calculations |
Time References
Variables that store values related to Time Index calculations should be named consistently to ensure a clear understanding of what the value represents. The following Time prefixes should be used.
Date Of [Event] - The calendar date of the specified [Event]
Day Of [Event] - The calendar day of the specified [Event]
Month Of [Event] - The calendar month of the specified [Event]
Year Of [Event] - The calendar year of the specified [Event]
Time Of [Event]- The time index of the specified [Event]
Days Since [Event] - An integer number of completed whole calendar days since the last occurrence of specified [Event]
Days Until [Event] - An integer number of completed whole calendar days until the next occurrence of specified [Event]
Months Since [Event] - An integer number of completed whole months (time indexes) since the last occurrence of specified [Event]
Months Until [Event] - An integer number of whole complete months (time indexes) until the next occurrence of specified [Event]
Years Since [Event] - an integer number of whole completed years since the last occurrence of specified [Event]
Years Until [Event] - an integer number of whole complete years until the next occurrence of specified [Event]
Acronyms
The following standard set of acronyms may be used to reduce variable name lengths:
AG - Actuarial Guideline
ASOP - Actuarial Standard of Practice
AVR - Asset Valuation Reserve
BOM - Beginning Of Month
CARVM - Commissioner’s Annuity Reserve Valuation Method
COI - Cost of Insurance
CRVM - Commissioners Reserve Valuation Method
DAC - Deferred Acquisition Cost
EOM - End Of Month
FAS - Financial Accounting Standard
FPT - Full Preliminary Term
GAAP - Generally Accepted Accounting Practices
IFRS - International Financial Reporting Standards
IMR - Interest Maintenance Reserve
LDTI - Long Duration Targeted Improvements (US GAAP ASU 2018-12)
NLP - Net Level Premium
NPR - Net Premium Reserve
OCI - Other Comprehensive Income
PAD - Provision for Adverse Deviation
PSA - Public Securities Association
PV - Present Value Of
RBC - Risk-Based Capital
SPIA - Single Premium Immediate Annuity
STAT - Statutory
VM - Valuation Manual
YTD - Year To Date
XXX - Actuarial Guideline XXX. This will also be used to refer to Actuarial Guideline XXXVIII (generally referred to as AXXX)
Decrement/Survivorship Variables
Variables used to describe mortality (aka decrement) and/or survivorship rates/values should be written out fully using descriptive words rather than using common actuarial notation such as qx, lx, px, etc. This notation is re-used across multiple products/values, and accounting bases and can lead to confusion if not clearly described.
The following pattern for naming should be used
[PREFIX] [Type] Rate [Frequency]
Example Types:
- Annuitization
- Disability Incidence
- Disability Termination
- Lapse
- Morbidity
- Mortality
- Partial Withdrawal
- Surrender
- Survivorship
- Transfer
Frequencies:
- Daily
- Weekly
- Monthly
- Quarterly
- Semi-Annual
- Annual
Some examples of proper usage would be:
US GAAP Mortality Rate Annual
US STAT Disability Incidence Rate Monthly
PRICING Lapse Rate Monthly
Surrender Rate Annual
Survivorship Rate Daily