Uniform Investment Adviser Law Examination, also called the Series 65 exam, is a test taken by individuals in the United States who seek to become licensed investment adviser representatives. The exam covers topics necessary to provide investment advice to clients.[1]

The Uniform Investment Adviser Law Examination was developed by the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) and is administered by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). Each Series 65, Uniform Investment Adviser Law Examination, contains a total of 140 questions. One hundred thirty (130) of the questions count toward whether the candidate passes or fails the Series 65 exam. The other 10 questions are pretest and could appear in any position within the exam but do not count towards the final grade. To pass the Series 65 Exam, candidates must correctly answer at least 94 of the 130 scored questions. Applicants have 180 minutes to complete the exam.[2]

The Uniform Investment Adviser Law Examinations are assembled by FINRA using a process called "on the fly." Each question in the pool has two parameters that are used as part of the assembly, a difficulty parameter and a content parameter. Each exam is assembled to meet the exam specifications for content and to have the same difficulty level as all other exams in the same Series.

Examination

The Uniform Investment Adviser Law Examination consists of 130 questions plus 10 pretest questions that cover topics applicants must know to provide investment advice to clients. Applicants have 180 minutes to complete the examination, and must answer at least 94 (72%) of the questions correctly to pass the Series 65 exam.[3]

The graded exam questions are categorized as follows:

SUBJECT MATTER WEIGHTING NUMBER OF QUESTIONS
Economic Factors and Business Information 15% 20
Investment Vehicle Characteristics 25% 32
Client Investment Recommendations and Strategies 30% 39
Laws, Regulations and Guidelines Including Prohibition on Unethical Business Practices 30% 39
TOTALS 100% 130

Source: [4]

The examination is a closed book test. On completion of the examination, the score for each section and the overall test score are immediately available to the candidate. Prior to January 1, 2010, a score of 68.5% was required to pass.

Registration

Individuals providing investment advice are called "Investment Adviser Representatives" (IAR). These IARs must generally complete The Uniform Investment Adviser Law Examination (see List of securities examinations) known as the Series 65 Exam, or by meeting the exam waiver requirement by holding one or more of the following pre-qualifying designations:

Source: [6]

History

Since August 2020, when the SEC broadened the definition of accredited investor,[7] the Series 65 exam is the only qualifying exam that doesn't require the sponsorship of a firm.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ "FINRA Registration and Examination Requirement". Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. Retrieved February 11, 2014..
  2. ↑ "Series 65 & 66 Resources". North American Securities Administrators Association. Retrieved February 11, 2014..
  3. ↑ "Series 65 Study Guide" (PDF). North American Securities Administrators Association. June 12, 2023. Retrieved February 11, 2014..
  4. ↑ NASAA Series 65 Exam Study Guide. NASAA.
  5. ↑ "CIC | FINRA.org". www.finra.org. 2024-01-11. Retrieved 2024-01-13.
  6. ↑ "North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA)". Archived from the original on September 30, 2011.
  7. ↑ "SEC.gov | SEC Modernizes the Accredited Investor Definition". www.sec.gov.
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