Estimating financial valuation of benefit plans

1. A computer-implemented method for intra-year benefit plan financial valuation, comprising the steps of:

performing a first actuarial valuation for the benefit plan of a client based on client assumptions, first client-specific data derived from capital market data collected for the first actuarial valuation, and benefit plan data comprising data collected for the first actuarial valuation and that impacts the financial valuation of the benefit plan;

collecting intra-year capital market data during a time period between the first actuarial valuation and a second actuarial valuation;

converting via a computer the intra-year capital market data to intra-year client-specific data based on the client assumptions;

calculating via a computer an updated intra-year financial valuation for the benefit plan based on the intra-year client-specific data, the benefit plan data, and the client assumptions, wherein the updated intra-year financial valuation is conducted during a time period after the first actuarial valuation and prior to the second actuarial valuation; and

presenting the updated intra-year financial valuation.

2. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1 , wherein said converting step comprises the steps of:

determining a change in a component of the intra-year capital market data; and

applying a fraction of that change to at least one client assumption.

3. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1 , wherein said collecting step comprises the steps of:

querying a data source for the intra-year capital market data;

receiving the intra-year capital market data from the data source in response to said querying step; and

storing the intra-year capital market data for use in said converting step.

4. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1 , wherein said calculating step further comprises calculating an updated forecast financial valuation based on the intra-year client-specific data, the benefit plan data, and the client assumptions, wherein the client assumptions comprise intra-year and future client assumptions.

5. The computer-implemented method according to claim 4 , wherein the updated forecast financial valuation provides a forecast for the period ending on a date of a scheduled second actuarial valuation.

6. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1 , further comprising the step of calibrating at least one of the first client-specific data, the intra-year client specific data, the client assumptions, and the benefit plan data based upon actual client-specific data reflecting experience between the time of the first actuarial valuation and the updated financial valuation.

7. The computer-implemented method according to claim 6 , wherein said calibrating step comprises the steps of:

receiving the actual client-specific data; and

replacing at least one of the first client-specific data, the intra-year client specific data, the client assumptions, and the benefit plan data, with the actual client-specific data,

wherein said calculating step calculates the updated financial valuation based on the actual client-specific data.

8. The computer-implemented method according to claim 7 , wherein said calculating step further comprises calculating an updated forecast financial valuation based on the actual client-specific data and the client assumptions, wherein the client assumptions comprise intra-year and future client assumptions.

9. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1 , further comprising the step of receiving hypothetical client-specific data for at least one of the first client-specific data, the intra-year client specific data, the client assumptions, and the benefit plan data,

wherein the updated intra-year financial valuation calculated in said calculating step comprises a hypothetical forecast financial valuation based on the hypothetical client-specific data.

10. A computer-readable medium having embedded therein a set of computer-executable instructions that when executed cause a computer to implement a process of performing an intra-year benefit plan financial valuation comprising the steps of:

performing a first actuarial valuation for the benefit plan of a client based on client assumptions, first client-specific data derived from capital market data collected for the actuarial valuation, and benefit plan data comprising data collected for the actuarial valuation that impacts the financial valuation of the benefit plan;

collecting intra-year capital market data during a time period between the first actuarial valuation and a second actuarial valuation;

converting the intra-year capital market data to intra-year client-specific data based on the client assumptions;

calculating an updated intra-year financial valuation for the benefit plan based on the intra-year client-specific data, the benefit plan data, and the client assumptions, wherein the updated intra-year financial valuation is conducted during a time period after the first actuarial valuation and prior to the second actuarial valuation; and

presenting the updated intra-year financial valuation.

11. A system for intra-year benefit plan financial valuation, comprising:

a database storing information for a plurality of clients, the information regarding a plurality of first actuarial valuations each for respective benefit plan of the clients, wherein the information for a first actuarial valuation for a selected one of the clients is based on client-specific assumptions, first client-specific data derived from capital market data collected for the actuarial valuations, and client-specific benefit plan data, the client-specific benefit plan data comprising data collected for the actuarial valuation that impacts the financial valuation of the benefit plan of the selected client;

a data collection module that collects a plurality of components of intra-year capital market data during a time period between the respective first actuarial valuation and a second actuarial valuation for the selected client;

an update module that identifies a particular one of the components of intra-year capital market data relevant to the benefit plan of the selected client, that converts the particular component of intra-year capital market data to intra-year client-specific data for the selected client based on the client-specific assumptions, and that stores the intra-year client specific data in said database; and

a calibration module that calibrates, for the selected client, at least one of the first client-specific data, the intra-year client specific data, the client-specific assumptions, and the client-specific benefit plan data based upon actual client-specific data reflecting the selected client's experience between the time of the first actuarial valuation and an updated intra-year financial valuation for the benefit plan of the selected client, thereby creating calibrated data,

wherein said update module calculates the updated intra-year financial valuation for the benefit plan of the selected client based on the calibrated data, and wherein the updated intra-year financial valuation is conducted during a time period after the first actuarial valuation and prior to the second actuarial valuation.

12. The system according to claim 11 , wherein said calibration module is operable to calibrate the data by performing the steps comprising:

receiving the actual client-specific data; and

replacing at least one of the first client-specific data, the intra-year client specific data, the client-specific assumptions, and the client-specific benefit plan data stored in the database with the actual client-specific data.

13. The system according to claim 12 , wherein said updated intra-year financial valuation for the benefit plan of the selected client comprises an updated forecast financial valuation based on the actual client-specific data and the respective client-specific assumptions, wherein the client-specific assumptions comprise intra-year and future client-specific assumptions.

14. The system according to claim 13 , wherein the updated intra-year forecast financial valuation provides a forecast for the period ending on a date of a scheduled second actuarial valuation.

15. The system according to claim 11 , wherein said update module is operable to convert the particular component of intra-year capital market data to intra-year client-specific data for the selected client by performing the steps comprising:

determining a change in a component of the intra-year capital market data relevant to the benefit plan of the selected client; and

applying a fraction of that change to at least one client-specific assumption for the benefit plan of the selected client.

16. The system according to claim 11 , wherein said data collection module is operable to collect the components of intra-year capital market data by performing the steps comprising:

querying a data source for at least one of the components of intra-year capital market data;

receiving the at least one of the components of intra-year capital market data from the data source in response to said querying step; and

storing the at least one of the components of intra-year capital market data in said database.

17. The system according to claim 11 , further comprising a server that communicates the updated financial valuation for presentation to the selected client.

18. The system according to claim 11 , further comprising a hypothetical module that receives, for the selected client, hypothetical client-specific data for at least one of the first client-specific data, the intra-year client specific data, the client-specific assumptions, and the client-specific benefit plan data,

wherein the updated financial valuation calculated by said update module comprises a hypothetical forecast financial valuation based on the hypothetical client-specific data.

19. A computer-implemented method for intra-year benefit plan financial valuation, comprising the steps of:

performing a first actuarial valuation for the benefit plan of a client based on client assumptions, first client-specific data derived from capital market data collected for the actuarial valuation, and benefit plan data comprising data collected for the actuarial valuation that impacts the financial valuation of the benefit plan;

collecting intra-year capital market data during a time period between the first actuarial valuation and a second actuarial valuation;

converting via a computer the intra-year capital market data to intra-year client-specific data based on the client assumptions; and

calculating via the computer an updated intra-year financial valuation and an updated forecast financial valuation for the benefit plan based on the intra-year client-specific data, the benefit plan data, and the client assumptions, wherein the updated intra-year financial valuation and the updated forecast financial valuation are conducted during a time period after the first actuarial valuation and prior to the second actuarial valuation.

20. The computer-implemented method according to claim 19 , wherein, for calculating the updated forecast financial valuation, the client assumptions comprise intra-year and future client assumptions.

21. The computer-implemented method according to claim 19 , wherein the updated forecast financial valuation provides a forecast for the period ending on a date of a scheduled second actuarial valuation.

22. The computer-implemented method according to claim 19 , wherein said converting step comprises the steps of:

determining a change in a component of the intra-year capital market data; and

applying a fraction of that change to at least one client assumption.

23. The computer-implemented method according to claim 19 , wherein said collecting step comprises the steps of:

querying a data source for the intra-year capital market data;

receiving the intra-year capital market data from the data source in response to said querying step; and

storing the intra-year capital market data for use in said converting step.

24. The computer-implemented method according to claim 19 , further comprising the step of presenting the updated r financial valuation to the client.

25. The computer-implemented method according to claim 19 , further comprising the step of calibrating at least one of the first client-specific data, the intra-year client specific data, the client assumptions, and the benefit plan data based upon actual client-specific data reflecting experience between the time of the first actuarial valuation and the updated intra-year financial valuation.

26. The computer-implemented method according to claim 25 , wherein said calibrating step comprises the steps of:

receiving the actual client-specific data; and

replacing at least one of the first client-specific data, the intra-year client specific data, the client assumptions, and the benefit plan data, with the actual client-specific data,

wherein said calculating step calculates the updated intra-year financial valuation based on the actual client-specific data.

27. The computer-implemented method according to claim 19 , further comprising the step of receiving hypothetical client-specific data for at least one of the first client-specific data, the intra-year client specific data, the client assumptions, and the benefit plan data,

wherein the updated intra-year financial valuation calculated in said calculating step comprises a hypothetical forecast financial valuation based on the hypothetical client-specific data.

28. A computer-readable medium having embedded therein a set of computer-executable instructions that when executed cause a computer to implement a process of performing an intra-year benefit plan financial valuation comprising the steps of:

performing a first actuarial valuation for the benefit plan of a client based on client assumptions, first client-specific data derived from capital market data collected for the actuarial valuation, and benefit plan data comprising data collected for the actuarial valuation that impacts the financial valuation of the benefit plan;

collecting intra-year capital market data during a time period between the first actuarial valuation and a second actuarial valuation;

converting the intra-year capital market data to intra-year client-specific data based on the client assumptions; and

calculating an updated intra-year financial valuation and an updated forecast financial valuation for the benefit plan prior to the second actuarial valuation based on the intra-year client-specific data, the benefit plan data, and the client assumptions, wherein the updated intra-year financial valuation and the updated forecast financial valuation are conducted during a time period after the first actuarial valuation and prior to the second actuarial valuation.