Lateral Funds

Lateral funds are used when a Unitized fund is offered with different variations. The Unitized Parent fund is always created first. Lateral funds are then created with Effective and Expiration dates and inherit their fund fields and plan fund statuses from their parents.

Child funds are another type of fund that can be associated with a parent fund. A parent fund can have a child fund or a lateral fund, but not both. Lateral funds and child funds are mutually exclusive.

High Level Steps to Generate Lateral Funds

  1. Configure the FundScreen business to support lateral funds and any extra fields needed for the fund information.
  2. Make sure Parent funds were created using the Fund wizard in Admin Explorer.
  3. Use the LateralFunds.xml subnode to create the lateral funds. This subnode is located in the Admin Explorer in the Funds folder under the Parent fund designated as eligible to have associated Lateral funds.
  4. Associate parent funds with plans.
  5. Associate lateral funds with plans.
  6. Set fund Parent fund status.

Step 1: Configure the FundScreen business rule

The FundScreen business rule needs to be configured to indicate to the system that lateral funds will be allowed for a particular parent fund. A <LateralFund> section is included at the beginning of the rule indicating whether lateral funds are supported.

The <ParentFundFields> section holds fields for additional information for the fund, which carry over to any child, lateral or benefit funds as appropriate.

  1. In the Global Explorer, navigate to Business Rules | Screen | FundScreen.
  2. Locate the FundScreen business rule in the Company Overrides folder or create a new override of this rule for the applicable company.
  3. Configure the <LateralFunds> element.
    • Include the ALLOW="Yes" attribute.
    • Add a <Fund TYPE=”[fundtypecode]”>Yes</Fund> element to indicate the type of lateral fund supported.
  4. Configure the <LateralFundFields> element.
    • Configure the <Field> elements for all fields needed to capture lateral fund information.

Step 2: Create Parent funds via fund wizard

Create the parent fund that the lateral funds will be associated with. This can hold general information, but clients will never be enrolled into this as a fund.

  1. Navigate to the Admin Explorer.
  2. Expand the Administration folder.
  3. Expand the Funds folder.
  4. Right-click on the Company Level folder and select Add New Fund. The New Fund Wizard will appear.
  5. Type the fund information in the fields provided. Each field is described below.
    • Fund name: The name of the fund being entered.
    • Fund Type: Select a fund typecode that was designated as lateral fund eligible in <Fund TYPE=”[fund type code]”>Yes</Fund> sub-element of <LateralFund> element.
    • Currency code: This is the currency of the fund, which defaults to the currency code of the Primary Company or System Properties. Populated by AsCurrency, which can be edited in the Currency editor in the Admin Explorer.
    • Calendar code: This is the calendar that the fund is traded on. Populated by AsCodeCalendar. An Override Offset checkbox is available to selected if the fund type is Unit Linking. If this box is checked, Fund Offset Days can be selected directly below.
    • Fund Offset Days: This drop-down box is only enabled if the Fund Type is Unit Linked and the Override Offset is checked so it does not apply to parent funds eligible for lateral funds.
  6. Select Finish. If the Finish button is not enabled, required fund information may be missing. When complete, the Fund Detail pane opens for the new fund in the Configuration Area.

Step 3: Use the LateralFunds.xml subnode to create Lateral Funds

The LateralFunds.xml file is used to actually create the lateral funds. It takes the <LateralFundField> information from the FundScreen configuration, lists all possible permutations of field values and provides a default lateral fund name. Using the check boxes, select the lateral funds to create.

  1. Navigate to the Admin Explorer and open the Company | Unitized Parent Fund folder.

  2. Expand the LateralFunds folder.

  3. Check out the LateralFunds (name of fund).xml file. The Editor will open. There are two sub panes: Fund Detail and Funds.

  4. Select or enter a Relation field value. The default value is configured in the <DefaultValue> tag. If the <DefaultValue> tag is not configured, then blank is set as the default.

  5. Click Add. This button is disabled until all relation fields have been entered. A Remove button is available to remove newly added Lateral Fund record. This button will be disabled until at least one new lateral fund record(s) is added and then selected in the Funds sub-pane. If multiple records are added, they may be removed one at a time by selecting the record and clicking Remove.
  6. Enter a unique fund name.
  7. Check-in the lateral funds subnode.

Step 4: Associate Funds with Plans

To associate lateral funds with a plan, use the Plan to Fund method. The parent fund must first be associated with the plan, before lateral funds can be associated. Navigate to the plan in the Funds node and make the associations there.

Important   Alateral fund cannot be deleted once it is associated with a plan. In addition, any lateral fund that has been run through the valuation process cannot be deleted.
  1. In the Admin Explorer, expand Administration | Funds.
  2. Expand the Primary Company Name | Subsidiary Companies | Subsidiary Company Name | Plans | Plan Name.
  3. Expand the Parent Funds folder.
  4. Check out the Parent Fund subnode file.
  5. Select the funds from the Available Funds box and select the arrow to move them to the Attached Funds box.
  6. Check in the file.
  7. Expand the Lateral Funds folder.
  8. Right-click on the Lateral Funds xml subnode and select Check out.
  9. Select the Lateral Fund Relation fields that are listed in the top box under Lateral Funds that should be available for the plan. Remember the Lateral Fund Relation Fields are the fields that were configured to define the type of class or band that the fund is going to be.
  10. Select the Apply Relation Filter, which loads the lateral funds with matching relation field values selected in the Available Funds box. The list is an alphabetized multi-select list box of available lateral funds related to the parent funds associated to the plan.

  11. Use the arrow buttons between the Available Funds and Attached Funds box to define the lateral funds that will be associated with the plan.

  12. Check in when complete.

Step 5: Set Plan Fund and Plan Fund Status information

Plan fund information such as removal method, removal precedence and deposit level tracking are handled at the parent fund level. Plan fund status records are not created in the AsPlanFund table for lateral funds. All lateral funds adhere to the plan fund status information set for the parent fund.

Editing Lateral Funds

Lateral funds can be edited at any time; however, they can only be deleted before they are associated with a plan. To edit a lateral fund, locate it in the Admin Explorer, in the Fund | Company | Parent Fund folder. Check out the lateralfund.xml file and make updates through the editor. Keep in mind the following information when editing lateral funds:

  • lateral funds ordered by Effective Date (latest –to-earliest, top-to-bottom).

  • characteristics that can be edited are name, related field(s), effective date, and expiration date, as long as the fund has not yet been valued.
  • a new lateral fund with same set of relation fields’ values cannot be added unless the “earlier” lateral fund has an expiration date.