Investor Pricing FAQ

Last Updated: March 2, 2026

Frequently asked questions about RiskModels Pro for individual investors.

What is RiskModels Pro?

RiskModels Pro is a private portfolio risk intelligence platform that connects to your brokerage accounts and provides institutional-grade risk analysis. Unlike basic portfolio trackers, we decompose your holdings across 41 risk factors, identify hidden concentrations, and generate hedge recommendations tailored to your actual positions.

Key Capabilities:

41-Factor Decomposition: Break down every holding across market, sector, style, and macro factors
Risk Concentration Detection: Spot hidden risks (e.g., "You have 23% exposure to semiconductors via 5 different holdings")
Hedge Recipe Generation: Get specific hedging suggestions with position sizes
Weekly Intelligence: Personalized risk reports delivered to your inbox
Multi-Account Support: Connect IRA, 401k, and taxable accounts for unified analysis

What counts as a "sync"?

A sync is one connection to your brokerage via Plaid that fetches your current holdings and transactions. Each sync updates your Private Risk Index with the latest data. With Pro, you get unlimited syncs — update as often as you like to keep your risk analysis current.

Sync Frequency:

Many users sync weekly (before market open on Monday)
Some sync daily during volatile periods
Auto-sync can be configured in settings

What is the 41-factor decomposition?

Our risk model breaks down every stock position across 41 factors organized in 3 levels:

Level 1 (Market Factors):

Market exposure (beta)
Size (large vs small cap)
Value vs Growth
Momentum
Volatility

Level 2 (Style Factors):

Quality (profitability, leverage)
Low volatility
Dividend yield
Liquidity

Level 3 (Sector/Macro):

11 GICS sectors (Technology, Healthcare, Financials, etc.)
Interest rate sensitivity
Commodity exposure
Currency exposure

Example Output:

AAPL (5.2% of portfolio)
├── L1: 85% market correlation, high momentum (+1.2 SD)
├── L2: Quality score 94th percentile
└── L3: 100% Technology, 30% semiconductor exposure

What are hedge recipes?

Hedge recipes are specific, actionable hedging recommendations generated based on your portfolio's unique risk profile.

Each recipe includes:

Specific ETF or instrument to hedge with
Recommended position size (number of shares/contracts)
Estimated cost
Expected risk reduction (e.g., "Reduces portfolio volatility by 12%")
Rationale (why this hedge fits your exposure)

Example Recipe:

"Your portfolio has 18% concentration in semiconductor exposure across 4 holdings. Consider buying 50 shares of SMH (VanEck Semiconductor ETF) puts expiring 30 days to hedge this concentration. Expected cost: ~$200. Risk reduction: ~8%."

Do my holdings ever leave my browser?

Your holdings are processed securely on our servers with industry-leading encryption. Here's how it works:

Plaid Connection: Your brokerage data is fetched using encrypted, read-only tokens via Plaid
Immediate Encryption: Your holdings are encrypted with AES-256-GCM using a unique per-portfolio Data Encryption Key (DEK)
KMS Wrapping: The DEK itself is wrapped (encrypted) by Google Cloud Platform KMS — we never store plaintext DEKs
Memory-Only: Your holdings' plaintext exists only briefly in memory during your active session and is never written to disk unencrypted
Cryptographic Shredding: When you sign out, delete your account, or after 90 days of inactivity, the DEK is destroyed — making your encrypted data mathematically impossible to recover, even from backups

Key Point: We cannot read your holdings even if we wanted to. The encryption is zero-knowledge by design.

What is cryptographic shredding?

Cryptographic shredding is the process of permanently destroying the Data Encryption Key (DEK) that protects your portfolio data.

Because your holdings are encrypted with AES-256-GCM using a key that only exists in our secure infrastructure, destroying that key renders the encrypted data permanently irrecoverable — even if someone gained access to database backups.

This satisfies regulatory requirements for secure data disposal including:

GDPR "right to erasure"
FTC Safeguards Rule disposal standards
CCPA deletion requirements

The shredding happens automatically on:

User sign-out (optional)
Account deletion
90 days of portfolio inactivity

What happens after the 7-day trial?

After your free 7-day trial expires:

You'll retain read-only access to your dashboard
New syncs will be paused
You can upgrade to Pro anytime to restore unlimited syncs, weekly insights, and hedge recommendations
Your encrypted data remains secure and is automatically shredded after 90 days of inactivity if you don't upgrade

Can I analyze multiple portfolios?

Yes! Each portfolio gets its own unique encryption key. Connect multiple brokerages or retirement accounts (IRA, 401k, etc.), and we'll analyze them individually.

You can:

View consolidated risk across all portfolios
Drill into each portfolio separately
Shred individual portfolios independently when disconnecting

Each portfolio maintains complete encryption isolation.

What brokerage connections are supported?

We support all brokerages available through Plaid, including:

Major Brokers:

Charles Schwab
Fidelity
TD Ameritrade
E*TRADE
Interactive Brokers
Robinhood
Webull

Retirement Accounts:

Vanguard
Fidelity 401k
Schwab IRA
Most employer 401k plans (via Plaid)

Connections are read-only and encrypted. We cannot execute trades or move money.

What's included in Pro?

Pro ($20/month or $192/year) includes:

Unlimited Plaid portfolio syncs
Weekly personalized risk insights via email
Automatic hedge recipe generation
41-factor decomposition for all holdings
Multi-account portfolio consolidation
Zero-knowledge privacy with per-portfolio DEKs (GCP KMS wrapped)
Automatic cryptographic shredding on sign-out/deletion/90-day inactivity
Privacy-preserving HMAC ticker checks
Priority support

Is there a discount for annual billing?

Yes! Annual billing saves you 20%:

Monthly: $20/month = $240/year
Annual: $192/year (~$16/month equivalent)
You Save: $48/year

Annual billing is billed once per year and can be canceled anytime. You'll retain access until the end of your billing period.

How do I cancel my subscription?

You can cancel anytime from your Account Settings. When you cancel:

You retain full access until the end of your current billing period
No prorated refunds (you keep access through the period you paid for)
You can choose to cryptographically shred your data immediately, or it will auto-shred after 90 days
You can reactivate your subscription anytime

Can I switch from monthly to annual (or vice versa)?

Yes. You can change your billing interval at any time:

Monthly → Annual: Immediate charge for the annual rate, credited for unused monthly time
Annual → Monthly: Takes effect at next renewal date

Changes are made in Account Settings → Billing.

What's the difference between Free and Pro?

| Feature | Free | Pro | |---------|------|-----| | Data Source | Mag 7 public benchmarks | Your actual portfolio via Plaid | | Analysis | Static benchmark data | Real-time, personalized risk index | | Syncs | None (manual data) | Unlimited automatic syncs | | Factors | 7 factors (Mag 7 only) | 41 factors for all holdings | | Hedge Recipes | Generic examples | Personalized to your portfolio | | Reports | None | Weekly email insights | | Support | Community | Priority email |

Free is great for exploring. Pro is for investors who want actionable intelligence on their real holdings.