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Back to Scenario Modeling and Forecasting Systems products

Analytical tools that enable actuaries to model various economic and demographic scenarios to stress-test pension plans and develop contingency strategies for different future outcomes.

Every feature we track for Scenario Modeling and Forecasting Systems products, with a description of what each one means.

Analysis and Reporting

Features supporting output generation, reporting, dashboards, and visualization of modeling results.

Automated Alerts: System-generated notifications for out-of-bounds or concerning results.
Chart Types Available: Number of different chart types available for result visualization (line, bar, heatmap, etc.).
Custom Report Builder: Drag-and-drop or menu-driven creation of customized reports based on scenario results.
Export Formats: Number of formats supported for exporting reports (PDF, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.).
Interactive Dashboards: Real-time graphical dashboards to visualize key metrics and projections.
Narrative Reporting: Ability to generate automated, plain-language descriptions and insights from scenario results.
Regulatory Report Templates: Predefined templates for common regulatory or actuarial disclosures.
Report Scheduling: Ability to schedule recurring report runs and distributions.
Scenario Comparison Reports: Automated side-by-side comparisons of multiple modeled scenarios.
Scenario Result Archiving: Long-term storage and retrieval of modeling outputs and reports.

Collaboration and Workflow

Tools and features facilitating teamwork, approvals, and documentation across actuarial and management teams.

Activity Notifications: System-generated alerts for assignment, changes, approvals, or review requests.
Approval Process Integration: Support for multi-step or conditional approval workflows.
Collaboration Export: Export collaborative history alongside reports or scenario data.
Document Attachment: Ability to upload and link external documents to models or reports.
Model Audit Trails: Track who made what change to which scenario and when.
Shared Workspaces: Spaces where teams can coordinate on particular projects and scenarios.
Task Assignment: Scenario modeling and review can be assigned to specific users or teams.
User Commenting & Threads: Users can leave comments, create discussion threads, and tag team members.
Version Control: Track changes, revert to previous versions, and compare model revisions.
Workflow Automation: Automated routing of scenario runs for approval and escalation.

Continuous Improvement and Vendor Support

How well the product and its provider engage in ongoing improvement, client feedback, and support services.

Comprehensive Release Notes: Detailed release documentation with each update.
Continuous Updates: Frequency with which new features and improvements are rolled out.
Dedicated Customer Account Manager: Named contact for ongoing customer support and relationship management.
Feature Request Portal: Mechanism for clients to submit and track feature requests.
Proactive Issue Notification: Vendor notifies customers about incidents or outages before users are impacted.
Roadmap Transparency: Public visibility into planned product improvements and timelines.
SLA Response Times: Service level agreement for response to support inquiries.
User Escalation Pathways: Clearly defined escalation procedures for unresolved issues.
User Group/Community Events: Regular webinars, roundtables, or conferences for sharing updates and best practices.
User Satisfaction Survey Frequency: How often vendor solicits user feedback via surveys.

Core Modeling Capabilities

Features that define the system's ability to model and simulate actuarial, economic, and demographic scenarios relevant to pension fund management.

Asset-Liability Modeling (ALM): Includes tools for analyzing and projecting asset and liability cashflows over time.
Demographic Projections: Tools for projecting member population dynamics (e.g., mortality, retirement, new entrants).
Deterministic Modeling: Capability to perform scenario analysis with fixed inputs and assumptions.
Economic Variable Modeling: Ability to input, model, and stress test different economic variables (inflation, salary growth, market returns).
Integrated Contingency Planning: Allows for creation and management of actions or strategies triggered in specific scenarios.
Modular Modeling Architecture: Supports plug-and-play of different models or modules (e.g. mortality, investment return) for flexible scenario building.
Multi-Scenario Simulation: Ability to simultaneously run and compare multiple scenarios (economic, demographic, regulatory, etc.).
Projection Time Horizon: Maximum number of years the system can project into the future.
Real-time Scenario Adjustment: Enables users to modify assumptions and view results dynamically during analysis.
Regulatory Scenario Simulation: Capability to model potential regulatory changes and their impact on actuarial assumptions and outcomes.
Scenario Complexity: Number of input variables or parameters that can be customized in each modeling scenario.
Scenario Documentation: Facility to document key assumptions and rationale for each scenario.
Scenario Saving & Versioning: System can store, retrieve, and version multiple scenario models for comparison.
Stochastic Modeling: Support for random variable simulations, such as Monte Carlo methods or similar, to create probabilistic forecasts.
Stress Testing Tools: Dedicated utilities to automatically apply shocks or stresses to key variables.

Cost Management and Licensing

Features supporting transparency, flexibility, and control in product pricing, licensing, and resource utilization.

Automated Invoice Generation: Billing is automated and can integrate with corporate AP systems.
Bundled Service Options: Packages including support, training, updates, or other features.
Cost Estimation Tools: System allows users to estimate future costs under different usage scenarios.
Free Trial Available: Trial period before full commitment.
License Flexibility: Ability to adjust user, feature, and resource licensing up or down as needs change.
Marketplace for Add-ons: Flexible procurement of additional features or capacities as add-ons.
No Hidden Fees: All pricing components are disclosed up front.
Transparent Pricing Model: Clear, published breakdown of licensing and usage costs.
Usage Metering: Real-time dashboard for tracking usage or resource consumption for billing.
Volume Discounts: Discounting for higher levels of usage or more users.

Data Management and Integration

Capabilities related to managing, accessing, importing, exporting, and validating the data required for scenario modeling.

Audit Trail: Automatic recording of all data uploads and changes for traceability.
Bulk Data Processing Speed: Time taken to process or import large datasets.
Data Anonymization: Support for de-identifying member data to comply with privacy regulations.
Data Import Formats: Number of supported formats for importing member and economic data (CSV, Excel, etc.).
Data Storage Capacity: Maximum volume of data the system can support.
Data Validation Tools: Built-in utilities for checking data integrity, completeness, and consistency before modeling.
External Data Integration: API or other integration with third-party data sources (market indices, demographic tables, etc.).
Historical Data Handling: Ability to store and retrieve historical actuarial, financial, and demographic data.
Role-based Data Access: Different user profiles can be assigned unique data access and editing permissions.
User Data Customization: Users can define custom input datasets (e.g., bespoke mortality tables).

Deployment, Hosting, and Scalability

Characteristics related to how the modeling product is installed, hosted, and how well it can scale with organizational needs.

Cloud Platform Certifications: Cloud provider holds certifications (e.g., ISO 27001, SOC 2) relevant to pension data.
Deployment Options: Supported deployment forms (cloud, on-premise, hybrid, SaaS).
Disaster Recovery RPO: Recovery point objective—maximum data loss in event of failover.
Disaster Recovery RTO: Recovery time objective—maximum outage before restoration after failure.
Elastic Scalability: Capability to dynamically scale computation and storage resources to meet demand.
Geo-Redundant Data Centers: Hosting in multiple geographic locations for resilience and regulatory compliance.
High-Availability Architecture: Redundancy and failover built in to minimize downtime.
Multi-Tenant Support: System can support multiple organizations or clients within a single infrastructure.
Scheduled Maintenance Controls: Users can schedule and manage system maintenance windows.
Uptime Guarantee: Guaranteed system availability (typically expressed as a percentage uptime SLA).

Education, Training, and Support

Resources and features provided to help users learn, train, and troubleshoot the system.

Certifiable Training Program: Available structured training program which grants certification upon successful completion.
Community Forums: User-to-user forums for sharing tips and best practices.
Comprehensive Documentation: Availability of full user manuals, reference guides, and technical documentation.
Embedded Tutorials: Scenarios and walkthroughs built into the product to bring new users up to speed.
Helpdesk Access: Direct access to technical support (email, chat, or phone).
In-Product Tooltips: Contextual explanations or hints available throughout the UI.
Multi-Language Support for Training: Training materials are available in multiple languages.
Online Knowledge Base: A searchable online repository of help articles and known issues.
Release Notes and Change Log: Regularly published documentation for new features, fixes, and changes.
Sandbox/Test Environment: Isolated environment for experimentation and practice without affecting production data.

Governance, Compliance, and Security

Features ensuring that scenario modeling complies with regulatory mandates, data privacy requirements, and auditability standards.

Audit Logging: Detailed change logs for all activities within the modeling environment.
Consent Management: Tracks and manages consent documentation for member data usage.
Data Encryption: Encryption of data at rest and in transit to ensure security.
Disaster Recovery: Ability to recover data and configuration in the event of failure.
GDPR/Privacy Compliance: Support for European GDPR or similar jurisdictional privacy rules in data handling.
Regulation Library: Built-in reference to modeling-relevant pension regulations (e.g., Pensions Regulator standards).
Regulatory Change Updates: System automatically applies or notifies of relevant regulatory updates.
Segregation of Duties: Ability to enforce separation between users for authorizing, modeling, and reporting functions.
Third-Party Audit Readiness: Design and documentation to enable external auditing of scenario processes and results.
User Access Controls: Role-based security controls for all system functions and data.

Integration and Extensibility

Features that allow the scenario system to interface with other systems, APIs, and custom add-ons.

Custom API Endpoints: Users can define custom endpoints for specialized workflows.
Data Export API: Supports programmatic extraction of scenario outputs for downstream systems.
ERP System Compatibility: Pre-built interfaces for popular enterprise resource planning platforms.
Event-driven Integration: Supports event or trigger-based data exchange with other platforms.
Integration with Risk Platforms: Supports data exchange with dedicated portfolio and risk analytics tools.
Open API Access: RESTful API or similar for bi-directional data integration with external systems.
Plug-in/Module Support: Supports the addition of custom or provided plug-ins for extended modeling features.
SFTP/Batch File Integration: Supports automated secure file transfer protocols for nightly or batch data loads.
Single Sign-On (SSO): Integration with corporate authentication systems for unified login.
Third-party Add-on Marketplace: Marketplace for approved add-ons or model templates.

Performance and Usability

Attributes that affect how efficiently and intuitively users can interact with the modeling product.

Accessibility Support: Conformity with web accessibility and usability standards (e.g., WCAG).
Concurrent Users: Number of users that can use the system simultaneously without performance degradation.
Error Handling and Recovery: System provides clear feedback and allows recovery from errors during scenario modeling.
Intuitive Navigation: Logical layout and journey through all modeling steps and options.
Mobile Device Compatibility: System can be accessed and used on mobile or tablet devices.
Multi-Language Support: Number of languages the application supports in its interface.
Personalized Workspace: Individuals can set up favorites, shortcuts, or custom views within the environment.
Self-Service Help: Availability of user guides, tutorials, and FAQs within the platform.
System Response Time: Average time taken to run a scenario model and return key results.
User Interface Customizability: Degree to which users can tailor dashboards, layout, and views.

Scenario Modeling and Forecasting Systems features explained

for Actuarial Services