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:

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