Agreements

In RCP 2 types of agreements can be managed:

Agreements for retrocession to be paid out – Direction OUT

Agreements for retrocessions to be collected – Direction IN

The choice which type to use must be made upon creation of the agreement via a separate popup:

Search for an agreement

In the sub menu of the agreement components the user can access the section ‘Agreements’. Within the section the user must press on ‘Search’ to show the list of agreements

To search for a particular agreement, the following filters can be used:

Agreement name / code
Status
Alert Profile
Direction
Entity
Agreement Type

By pressing the ‘Search’ button the research will be launched and the results will be displayed in the result list.

Summary

When opening the agreement, RCP presents first an overview of the agreement details in the tab ‘Summary’.

In this screen the data is not editable.

Details

In the tab ‘Details’ the user can find and edit the agreement details.

Payment on Invoice

This setting allows :

Payments are only being released once the relevant invoice has been received
To compare the invoice amount to the total calculated by RCP

If the invoice required flag is ticked within the agreement details, any payment remains in status simulated until the invoice has been received. Upon invoice reception the user needs to enter the payment via the link ‘Adjust payments, forex etc

The amendment type is ‘Amount’ which leads the user to the screen where he can either enter the invoice amount (if different from the calculation) and optionally provide the invoice number.

If the amount matches it is sufficient to validate the tick box (invoice matches calculation).

Upon saving the entries RCP will progress the payment to status validated if the amount does match the calculation or if the entered amount is within tolerance.

A warning signal on the payment screen will indicate via mouse over that the initially calculated amount of x has been amended together with the percentage of variance. The amount on the payment screen is updated to the overwritten amount as well.

In case the amount entered exceeds the tolerance level, the user is prompted with a message that the amount is outside tolerance and can then decide to pursue with overwriting the amount or leave the amount section without changes.

Free text fields are available to be managing information required for reporting in the invoice or statement.

Example

Such fields are generic and have all the same size, formatting etc. They can be used to hold information that is used on the invoice/statement. The placement, formatting and field size on the invoice/statement is defined during the RCP implementation when the invoice/statement is being designed.

Calculation settings

This part of the application is available only for payables (Direction = payable). In this section the user can see:

The latest version (as well as the history)
The details of the version
- If a grid is used and if yes which one
- If a default scale is used
- If a calculation set is used
- If an exception is used

If a default hierarchy is used it can be viewed in the section ‘Default Calculation HOP’.

Calculation version management

In Calculation version management the user can see:

Version start date and (if applicable) version end date
Version name

By clicking on ‘Manage Calculation versions’ the user can access the following information:

Start Date
End Date
Version Name
Comments
% of entry and exit fees

Approval requests

To create a new version the user must press ‘add’, for a modification on the pen icon, for the suppression on the cross etc. (see chapter Icons)

Calculation version properties

If for a calculation the grid is used, it will be selected in this section. For the selection of the grid the user can deselect inactive grids.

It is also possible to select a default scale.

The details become visible on clicking the button ‘show details of calculation properties’. To reduce the section the user can click on ‘Hide details of calculation properties’.

Grid

If a standard grid is applicable, it must be defined which one. By default only active grids are displayed but inactive can be added by selecting ‘show inactive’.

Default Scale

If a default scale is used the corresponding tick box must be selected.

Trade basis data

Here the user must choose amongst the available values to define which date to take into account to calculate the Assets under Management. Some of the proposed formulas allow considering subscriptions and redemptions in a different manner.

Threshold currency

The user can choose here in which currency the assets under management are calculated to define the threshold. The threshold currency can be different from the calculation threshold.

Accrual Method

This choice is about when the calculated amounts are converted into the payment currency. For example the calculation amount could be converted each day of period or only one conversion could take place at the end of the calculation period for the entire amount.

Default calculation HOP

The default calculation HOP allows selecting which agents/investors/portfolios to be taken into account by default for the calculation. HOP can be defined by selecting portfolios, agents or investors.

If agents or investors are selected, the portfolios linked to these are taken into account.

The user must click the ‘add’ button to access the below screen:

By making use of the filters the agents, investors and portfolios can be shown within a hierarchy. To extend the choices proposed the user can click on the cross within the hierarchy. To select the user needs to tick the relevant box.

The system manages the history of links between portfolios and agents/investors.

The filter allows selecting the hierarchy at a given date.

By default the calculation hierarchy is the same as the one for threshold.

Calculation Set

An agreement may have one or more calculation sets. To create a new calculation set the user needs to press ‘add’, for a modification the pen and for a deletion the cross. (See chapter Icons).

This section of the screen lists the properties of the calculation set. With the ‘Add’ button the user can add a new calculation set. For modification of an existing calculation set he needs to click on the pen icon. To visualise the details the user has to do a mouse-over on the information Icons.

With the scroll bar the user can access the details on the bottom of the pop-up screen.

Properties

This section contains the name of the calculation set, the service and the calculation mode. Depending on the model chosen the options shown underneath will vary.

Description

Name of the calculation set.

Service

The user selects the service model for the calculation set.

Sub-Service

The user selects the relevant sub service. Choice is limited by the selection of the service type.

Fee Model

Here the user selects the fee model (commission calculation, fee sharing, fee distribution, etc.).

Define Product Scope

Checkbox is only available for fee models other than commission calculation. Ticking the checkbox allows the user to define a product group for the calculation set later on.

Portfolio scope

Here the user can define the HOP’s, the product groups as well as the portfolio attributes which will be used in the calculation. Parameters can be set for rebate and threshold calculation individually by unticking the checkbox ‘Use same as rebate calculation’ for threshold volume.

HOP

Here the user needs to define the HOP (agent, investor or portfolio) .

Product Group

The user can select the product group which will be used in the calculation.

Portfolio Attributes

Setting attributes allows the user to further filter which portfolios will be included in the calculation.

Example: To include in the calculation all portfolios created more than a year ago the user needs to make the following choices:

First the user needs to choose the attribute. Only for attributes linked to a date there is a transformer required. Currently two types of date transformers exist:

Age calendar – Takes into account the exact creation date
Age year – Takes into account only creation year

Then there are the operator and the values to be set up.

Calculation parameters

The choices available are depending on the calculation mode used (Commission calculation, Fee sharing, Fee distribution etc.)

It is possible to use the default parameters which are set up at entity level by checking the box ‘Use default calculation parameters defined at Entity level’

Threshold volume basis

Here the user can define how the AUM is calculated for the threshold.

Rebate calculation basis

Here the user can define how the AUM is calculated for the payment.

Day count basis

Here the number of days per year to be considered for the calculation.

Rebate calculation formula

The user must define which formula to use for calculation. Depending on the fee model previously selected different options are available.

Offset Rate

The user has the possibility to select a fee flagged as ‘waiver’ which will ( if applicable) be deducted from the Fee type provided in the ‘Fee Types’ section.

Fee types

The user can select here which fee type shall be calculated. This section is only visible for the fee model ‘Commission calculation’. If the Calculation scale refers to a fee scale, the selection of a fee type is mandatory. Fee types flagged as ‘waiver’ cannot be selected here

Deduction retro paid on same portfolio/product

This option allows to deduct retrocession payments paid to other agreements for the same portfolio/product combination. This is for example used in a context where rebates are paid directly to the distributor’s client and therefore needs to be deducted from the distribution agreement. This can only be used if the same setup does not exist for more then 2 agreements of which one has this flag activated.

By default this option is not selected. The flag can be used only if:

– There is no other agreement which has the flag ticked and where the rebate HOP refers to the same portfolio/product combination

– there is not more then one agreement using the same portfolio product combination

Rebate fee basis

The user defines here if the fee amount or the base amount from which the fee amount is derived is used for the calculation:

This section is not visible for the fee model ‘Commission calculation’.

Threshold fee basis

Here the user can choose from the below options which amount will be used to define the threshold :

SET fee base amount

This section is not visible for the fee model ‘Commission calculation’.

Floor/Ceiling (Managing Min/Max Rebate)

During the calculation, the minimum (floor) and maximum (ceiling) amounts have to be taken into consideration if the margin amount calculated is either below the floor or above the ceiling. The floor defines the minimum margin amount to be retained. The Ceiling amount defines the maximum amount of the margin to be retained.

If the calculation result is negative, the amount is set to 0 so that no payment is being created. The only exception is if Amount of Retro IN < 0 and AUM ≠ 0

Example for calculation in %

Assiette du fichier IN / Base IN	Taux du fichier IN/ Rate IN	Taux de marge %/ Margin %	Plancher/ Floor	Plafond/ Ceiling	Marge initiale/ Initial margin	Retro client initiale/ Initial retro	Marge finale/ Final margin	Retro client finale/ Final retro calculation
1000	40%	10%	150	500	40	360	150	250
20000	40%	10%	150	500	800	7200	500	7500
20000	40%	10%	200	800	800	7200	800	7200
1000	40%	10%	20	60	40	360	40	360

Example for calculation in basis points

Assiette du fichier IN / Base IN	Taux du fichier IN/ Rate IN	Marge Bps/ Margin BP’s	Plancher/ Floor	Plafond/ Ceiling	Marge initiale/ Initial margin	Retro client initial/ Initial Retro	Marge finale/ Final margin	Retro client finale Final Retro
1000	40%	1000	150	1000	100	300	150	250
1000	40%	1000	0	50	100	300	50	350
1000	40%	1000	50	500	100	300	100	300

Calculation formula with Margin in Percentage

Base IN*Rate IN(%)-MIN [MAX[margin (%) * Rate IN (%)* Base IN, Floor],Ceiling ]

Calculation formula in basis points

Retro IN (%) * Base – MIN [Max[(Margin (bp/10000)* Base ; Floor) , Ceiling]

The calculation result will be set to zero in in

Calculation scales

The scale is defined is this screen

The information to be entered is:

From

The entry level of the scale band

The exit level of the scale band (not mandatory if there is no upper level)

Terms (Fee percentage or Bps)

Can be percentage of fee, percentage of fee base amount, Basis points on AUM etc.

Type of band

Flat – The terms are applied on the entire AUM, Tiered – the terms apply only for the scale band.

Managing Exceptions

In this part of the screen the user can define the exception from the calculation set or grid already defined earlier. To create a new exception the user needs to press the ‘add’ button, for a modification the pen and for a deletion the cross. (See chapter Icons )

During creation or modification of an exception the user will see the above screen which requires the following information:

Description
Exception mode
Service
Sub Service
Fee model (not visible in all scenarios)

Depending on the entries made the following screen might look different. Below is one example:

In mode ‘replace’ RCP will treat the entry as an ‘add’ in case no calculation set to replace can be found.

Margin amount

The margin option is available to define the retain amount by scale band. If for example the calculated/imported fee is 1000 Euro and the margin amount entered is 100 Euro only 900 Euro will be paid. The margin amount must be a positive amount.

Payment instructions

This part of the application is only available for the payables. It holds the account and bank information where the payment shall be sent to. These instructions are being picked up when the feed to the banking system is being built.

Bank details can be entered in this screen:

For each currency a separate entry must be made. Only one entry per payment currency can be set up. It is possible to facilitate the setup via inheriting from an agent.

There can be only one currency by default. In case a payment is generated in a currency for which no payment instruction exists, the payment is converted to the currency of the default payment instruction. ‘Narrative’ will hold the payment reference which will be transmitted to the beneficiary to identify the purpose of the payment.

Contact details

The user can enter the contact details of one or several points of contact for an agreement.

To create a new contact, the user need to press ’add’, for a modification the pen and for a deletion the cross (See chapter Icons).

The below screen is used for the creation of contacts:

The contact of whom the contact details will on the invoice/statement is defined in the Agreement details. It can be one of the contacts defined in the list below or a specific agent/investor. Prior to such selection the user needs to enter whether the contact is from an agent, investor or from the agreement itself.

Reinvestment Instructions

This part of the application is available only for payables (Direction = payable). It defines the rules of reinvestments of a calculated retrocession amount to be fully or partially reinvested.

Within the screen the user can define if:

The reinvestment will be for the same portfolio and product (the default setting is ‘Yes’). If set to ‘No’ then portfolio product combinations need to be defined individually via the ‘Add’ button in the list.
The minimum reinvestment amount. The value entered will apply for all currencies. If for example the minimum is set to 50, it means 50 EUR, 50 USD, 50 JPY etc.
The percentage of reinvestment. Examples: If set to 100% all will be reinvested. At 70% there will be 30% paid and 70% reinvested.

Suspending all payments/reinvestment linked to an agreement

In order to suspend ALL payments and reinvestments up to status validated, the user can set a flag on the agreement details page.

Once the suspension request has been approved by another user, all payments and reinvestment up to status validated will move to status ‘simulated’ with payment attribute ‘suspended’. As long as the flag is in placed any new payments/Reinvestments will immediately be in the same status and carry at least the suspension attribute.

To end the suspension of ALL payments/reinvestments the user can take the flag out. Some items might remain in status simulated due to other reasons then the suspension.

Processes

Payments

This screen shows the list of payments:

Whether for agreements IN or Out, the list shows all payments/reinvestments linked to the agreement independent from the payment status.

To retrieve a payment/reinvestment more easily, the filters in the upper part of the screen can be used. Only payments matching 100% of the criteria will be shown as results.

On top of the payment/reinvestment list the user has many options to progress a payment until its export.

Below are the different statuses in chronological order:

Status Simulated: The payment/reinvestment exists with all the underlying calculations but one or more of the following reasons prevent the payment from progressing to the next status:

The calculation period is not yet terminated
There is only or more 4 eyes requests awaiting approval
Archived accrual
Awaiting Euroclear reconciliation
Awaiting provistion export
Missing contact information
Missing or non validated certificate(s)
Missing payment instructions
Missing reinvestment instructions
No fund base provided for a product
No hodling for this product in the portfolio (reinvestments only)
Missing debit account information
Pending holding transfer
The payment status of the agreement is not ‘payable’.
The payment/Reinvestment has been suspended

Status Draft: the payment/reinvestment is ready to be reviewed and validated. The user can modify manually the overall payment amount or default data (value date, forex etc.) which will not lead to an adjustment calculation. At this stage to progress the payment to the next stage the user needs to click on ‘validate’ or ‘validate selected’ if he has selected multiple payments.

Status Validated: the payment has been validated by a user. If for any reason the payment should not have been validated the user can click on ‘Undo validation’. To progress to the next step the user needs to click on ‘Authorise’ or ‘Authorise selected’.

Status Authorised: The payment is now ready to be sent out to the recipient. Only payments with status validated can be progressed to status ‘Authorised’. Validation and authorisation always needs to be done by different users.

The payment cannot be modified anymore in this status unless the user does press ‘Undo authorisation’.

If beyond this stage the underlying calculation data is modified, an adjustment will be created. Adjustments have the same payment reference than the initial payment reference but carry an extension -1,-2,-3 etc.

Status Exporting: Only shown while export process is launched but not terminated or failed.

Status Payment In Error: The payment could not be sent as it encountered an error during sending process.

Status Statement In Error: The statement could not be exported as it encountered an error during sending process.

Status Payment Exported: Only the payment but not the statement has been exported.

Status Statement Exported: Both payment and statement have been successfully exported.

Status Paid: Payments IN: The user can progress the payment status from ‘Authorised’ to ‘Paid’ via le button ‘Paid` if all linked invoices have been settled (Invoices on status ‘Paid’).

Payments OUT: During the generation of the payment file, the payments status is automatically progressed to ‘Paid’.

Status actioned : reinvestments for whichreinvestment in the source class is impossible as there are no holdings anymore can be set to such status to indicate that appropriate action has taken place (payout etc)

Bulk actions: The user can select multiple items from the list for the same action (e.g. Validate/authorise/export etc). For better overview RCP will indicate the number of items which will be processed.

Update Value date

The value date describes the date when the payment is credited on the recipients bank account. RCP calculates such date by default from the parameters set in the entity menu. The user can modify the value date via the update value hyperlink when the payment is in status ‘Draft’. In the next screen it is possible to select a new date via the calendar.

Link to adjust forex, amount and value date, holdback payment and external invoice number

Via this link it is possible to modify manually the following data:

Forex to be used for this payment
Payment amount
Value date of payment
External invoice number

It is also possible to suspend temporarily the payment via the holdback option.

Depending on the context not all of the described options are always available.

Statements/Payments

Statements can be viewed via the hyperlink Excel/Pdf.

For the payments IN the link can be found at invoice level.

For payments OUT the link can be found on the payment list/payment section of the agreement.

It is possible to configure at agreement level if the recipient shall receive the statement/invoice in excel, pdf or both formats.

For payments IN the excel option is not available.

The content of the excel file is not the same as the one in the pdf file.

The user can download or print the invoice/statement. For payments In the invoice is named Pro Forma Invoice until the payment has been exported.

For payments IN one payment can lead to multiple invoices. Invoices can be manually created or imported.

Separate process for statement and payment exports (not part of generic RCP version)

If such option has been en-abled it does allow to separate the process of exporting statements and exporting payments. If they are used one-by-one, the relevant payment status does than progress separately to ‘Statement exported’ and later to ‘(Payment) Exported’.

Creation of invoices

An invoice can only be created if the related payment IN is at least in status ‘Validated’.

The user can access the invoices of a payment IN via the hyperlink ‘show details’ from the list of payments.

In the below screen the user can create the invoice by clicking on the ‘Invoice’ button. An invoice will be created with the amount in the section ‘Not Invoiced Amount’.

Following the invoice creation the amount under ‘o/w ready to be invoiced’ will be adjusted.

To view the invoices the user needs to enter the tab ‘Invoices’:

The initial status of an invoice is ‘Draft’. The user can validate the invoice, another user can authorise the invoice (4 eyes principle).

Invoice after authorisation:

The invoice will be sent automatically with the next export which will as well progress the invoice status from authorised to exported.

Invoice report

In the same tab the user can see the invoice details by clicking on ‘Report’. This report can be saved or exported as the other RCP reports.

Invoice details

For the payments IN RCP offers an overview of a payment and its underlying data. This view can be found in the tab ‘Details’ This view can be accessed in the details tab of the payment IN via the link ‘show details’ of the payment IN.

The number of shares, their valuation, the rate as well as the payment amount can be edited by the user.

Free text field for display of information on the invoice/statement

It is possible to show some additional data on the invoice/statement using free text fields which are configurable by entity and agreement. RCP offers 6 fields of this type. Their content and placement on the invoice/statement is configured by AMS. If the user does use these fields, it is required to not fill in more data than can be put on the invoice/statement with respect to the page layout.

Examples for use of free text fields:

VAT reference
Agent reference
Additional clauses
Amount paid/ left to be paid

Reinvestments

This part of RCP is only applicable for payment OUT. (Direction = payable).

The screen allows visualising the reinvestments of the agreement in list format. The list can be filtered via the filters on the upper part of the screen. The reinvestments are always preceded by the icon and follow the same (payment status) flow as payments.

Documents

If there are documents attached to the agreement these are visible on the screen.

Reports

Holdings report

This report shows the number of shares at a given date in the past.

To run the report the user must select the reference date, the currency and the trade basis. Then the user needs to press ‘View Report’ and the results will show up on the screen. The report can also be exported.

Transaction report

This report shows the transactions in the portfolios attached to the agreement.

To launch the report the user must choose the start and end date and press the ‘View Report’ button. The results will then come up on the screen. The report can be exported in various formats.