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Product Requirement Document (PRD)

Product Name: Olanna

Tagline: "Building Wealth, One Step at a Time"
Target Audience: Retail investors, millennials, Gen Z, and first-time investors looking for an affordable, intuitive, and automated investment platform.

1. Objectives

  • Provide users with an affordable, easy-to-use platform to buy and sell stocks.
  • Offer robo-advisory services with pre-built portfolios based on risk profiles.
  • Enable fractional shares investing to lower the barrier to entry.
  • Integrate with affordable brokerage providers like Alpaca for cost-effective trading.
  • Provide educational resources to help users make informed investment decisions.
  • Ensure regulatory compliance and security for user data and transactions.

2. Key Features

2.1 Core Features

  1. Stock Trading:
    • Buy and sell stocks (including fractional shares).
    • Real-time market data and price alerts.
    • Integration with affordable brokerage APIs like Alpaca for low-cost trading.
  2. Robo-Advisory Portfolios:
    • Pre-built portfolios based on risk profiles (e.g., Conservative, Moderate, Aggressive).
    • Automated rebalancing of portfolios.
    • Low management fees (e.g., 0.25% annually).
  3. Fractional Shares:
    • Allow users to invest in high-priced stocks with small amounts of money.
  4. Goal-Based Investing:
    • Enable users to set financial goals (e.g., retirement, buying a house) and allocate funds accordingly.
  5. User Risk Profiling:
    • Onboarding questionnaire to determine risk tolerance and investment goals.
    • Dynamic adjustment of portfolios based on user feedback and market conditions.
  6. Social Investing (Optional):
    • Allow users to follow and copy trades of experienced investors (similar to eToro).
  7. Wallet Implementation (Fineract Service):
    • Store funds securely (Savings).
    • Deposit and withdraw money.
    • Transfer funds between wallets and investment accounts.
    • View transaction history and balances.
  8. Automated Savings and Account Funding:
    • TBD (Ireti).
    • Recurring Funding (Direct Debit): Allow users to set up automatic savings (e.g., weekly, monthly).

2.2 Advanced Features

  1. Tax Optimization (TBD):
    • Provide tax-loss harvesting features for taxable accounts.
  2. Crypto Integration (Optional):
    • Allow users to invest in cryptocurrencies alongside traditional assets.
  3. Educational Resources:
    • In-app tutorials, gamification, articles, and videos on investing basics.
    • Goal-focused: Understand where you are in your financial ladder (from steps to ladder to an escalator).
    • Glossary of investment terms and concepts.
  4. Multi-Device Support:
    • Mobile app (iOS and Android) and web platform with seamless synchronization.
  5. Precious Metals Investing (Optional):
    • Integrate with providers like Monetary Metals for investing in gold, silver, and other precious metals.

3. User Experience (UX) Requirements

3.1 Onboarding

  • Simple and intuitive onboarding process.
  • Risk profiling questionnaire to determine investment preferences.
  • Clear explanation of fees and features.

3.2 Dashboard

  • Clean, user-friendly interface with:
    • Portfolio performance overview.
    • Real-time stock prices.
    • Notifications for price alerts and portfolio updates.

3.3 Trading Interface

  • Easy-to-use buy/sell interface with real-time data.
  • Fractional shares option clearly displayed.
  • Confirmation screens with clear fee breakdowns.

3.4 Robo-Advisory Interface

  • Clear display of portfolio allocation and performance.
  • Option to adjust risk profile and rebalance manually.

4. Technical Requirements

4.1 Integration with Brokerage APIs

  • Use Alpaca API for low-cost stock trading.
  • Explore other affordable providers for additional features (e.g., crypto, precious metals).

4.2 Security

  • Two-factor authentication (2FA) for user accounts.
    • Optional: Passkey-based authentication.
  • Encryption of sensitive data (e.g., SSN, bank details).
  • Regular security audits and compliance with regulations (e.g., SEC, FINRA).

4.3 Scalability

  • Cloud-based infrastructure to handle increasing user loads.
  • Modular architecture for easy addition of new features (e.g., crypto, social investing).

5. Business Model

5.1 Revenue Streams

  1. Trading Fees:
    • Low commission fees for stock trades (e.g., $0.01 per share).
  2. Management Fees:
    • Annual fee for robo-advisory services (e.g., 0.25% of assets under management).
  3. API Offerings.
  4. Premium Features:
    • Offer advanced features (e.g., tax optimization, premium research) for a monthly subscription fee.

5.2 Cost Structure

  • Brokerage API costs (e.g., Alpaca).
  • Cloud hosting and infrastructure costs.
  • Licensing, compliance, and legal expenses.
  • KYB-related costs — Requirements look like providers we can use (NorthRow).
  • Payment fees, etc. (borne by customers) (Stripe).

6. Competitive Analysis

6.1 Competitors

  • Qapital: Goal-based investing and automated savings.
  • Robinhood: Commission-free trading and fractional shares.
  • eToro: Social investing and copy trading.
  • Monetary Metals: Precious metals investing.
  • Alpaca: Affordable brokerage API for developers.

6.2 Unique Selling Points (USPs)

  • Combines robo-advisory services with affordable stock trading.
  • Fractional shares and goal-based investing.
  • Integration with multiple asset classes (stocks, crypto, precious metals).
  • Integration with other wealth-building tools (e.g., HomeBridge).

7. Regulatory and Compliance Requirements

  • Register with the SEC and FINRA as a robo-advisor and brokerage platform.
  • Comply with KYC (Know Your Customer) and AML (Anti-Money Laundering) regulations.
  • Provide clear disclosures about fees, risks, and conflicts of interest.

8. Roadmap

see section Roadmap

9. Success Metrics

  • User Acquisition: Number of new sign-ups per month.
  • Retention Rate: Percentage of active users after 6 months.
  • Assets Under Management (AUM): Total value of managed portfolios.
  • Customer Satisfaction: Net Promoter Score (NPS) and app store ratings.

10. Risks and Mitigation

  1. Regulatory Risks:
    • Work closely with legal advisors to ensure compliance.
  2. Security Risks:
    • Implement robust security measures and conduct regular audits.
  3. Market Risks:
    • Educate users about investment risks and provide diversified portfolios.

11. Budget Allocation

Category Estimated Cost Details
Development Team $6,000 Backend developers for 6 months ($1k per month split amongst 3 devs).
Alpaca API Integration $0 Alpaca offers a free* tier for developers.
Mobile App Development $2,000 Use cross-platform frameworks like Flutter or React Native to save costs (2 devs).
Admin Portal $500 The goal is a self-service portal; customer support should be able to place trades on behalf of HNIs (2 devs).
Customer Portal $500 Use a pre-built template or open-source solution for the customer portal (2 devs).
Hosting & Infrastructure $500 Cloud hosting (e.g., AWS, DigitalOcean) for MVP scale* per year, or apply for store credits once we are set up.
Miscellaneous $500 Contingency for unforeseen expenses.
Total $10,000