Series 65 study guide: the 4 sections, their weights, and what to study
This Series 65 (Uniform Investment Adviser Law Examination) study guide maps the four sections of the current content outline, effective June 2023: 15%, 25%, 30% and 30%, which is 20, 32, 39 and 39 of the 130 scored questions. Below: what each section covers, how to study it, which study materials you need, and how to split your hours.
Series 65 content outline at a glance (15/25/30/30)
- § IEconomic Factors and Business Information15% · 20 items
- § IIInvestment Vehicle Characteristics25% · 32 items
- § IIIClient Investment Recommendations and Strategies30% · 39 items
- § IVLaws, Regulations, and Guidelines, including Prohibition on Unethical Business Practices30% · 39 items
The exam has 140 multiple-choice questions in 180 minutes. Ten of them are unscored pretest items drawn from any section, and nothing on screen tells you which ten, so treat every question as if it counts. The other 130 decide the result: you pass with 92 of the 130 scored questions. That cut is a count of right answers, and because the sections differ in size you cannot average four section scores to find it. Format and scoring are on the exam page.
NASAA, which develops the exam, publishes the content outline as a free PDF. It lists everything that can be tested: keep it open beside any book and tick off each line once you can answer questions on it.
The four sections
§ I · 15% · 20 items
Economic Factors and Business Information
Economics, financial statements and the quantitative tools: time value of money, basic statistics, ratios and risk. The smallest section, and mostly vocabulary plus light arithmetic.
Practice it in the 60-question practice test, under the § I filter.
§ II · 25% · 32 items
Investment Vehicle Characteristics
What each product is and how it behaves: cash equivalents, bonds, stocks, funds, options and other derivatives, alternatives, annuities and life insurance.
Practice it in the 60-question practice test, under the § II filter.
§ III · 30% · 39 items
Client Investment Recommendations and Strategies
Turning a client profile into a recommendation: allocation and portfolio theory, taxes, retirement plans, special accounts, trading and performance measurement.
Read the Section III guide§ IV · 30% · 39 items
Laws, Regulations, and Guidelines, including Prohibition on Unethical Business Practices
Who must register and how, what the state securities Administrator can do, and which business practices are unethical or unlawful for advisers and agents.
Read the Section IV guide
Sections III and IV have full notes and a 12-question drill each. Notes for Sections I and II are not published yet, so the next two cards map them for you.
Section I: Economic Factors and Business Information (15%)
20 scored questions. The outline puts four things in this section:
- Economics: the business cycle, monetary and fiscal policy, inflation and deflation, interest rates, yield-curve shapes and credit spreads, and the main indicators (GDP, employment, CPI, the trade balance), plus currency and geopolitical risk.
- Financial reporting: the income statement, balance sheet and cash-flow statement, audit opinions, and cash versus accrual accounting.
- Quantitative methods: future value, net present value and IRR; mean, median, mode, range and standard deviation; alpha, beta, the Sharpe ratio and correlation; the current, quick and debt-to-equity ratios; P/E and P/B.
- Risk: systematic versus unsystematic risk, opportunity cost, and where each class of investor stands in a liquidation.
Section II: Investment Vehicle Characteristics (25%)
32 scored questions, the widest product list on the exam:
- Cash and fixed income: CDs, commercial paper and T-bills; Treasuries, TIPS, agency mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities, corporates, and municipal general-obligation versus revenue bonds; ratings, calls, duration, yield to maturity and yield to call.
- Equities and offerings: common and preferred stock (including convertible), ADRs, voting and preemptive rights, restricted stock, incentive versus non-qualified options; IPOs, secondary offerings and SPACs.
- Pooled vehicles: open- and closed-end funds, ETFs, UITs, listed and non-traded REITs, hedge, private-equity and venture funds; share classes, loads, breakpoints, 12b-1 fees, NAV versus market price.
- Derivatives, alternatives and insurance: options, warrants, futures and forwards; limited partnerships, ETNs, leveraged and inverse funds, structured products; annuities and life insurance; commodities, precious metals and digital assets.
Section III: Client Investment Recommendations and Strategies (30%)
39 scored questions. Almost every item is a client scenario: you get a profile and pick the account, plan, allocation or calculation that fits. The outline covers client profiles, capital market theory (CAPM, modern portfolio theory, efficient markets), asset allocation, income and estate tax, retirement plans and ERISA, 529, Coverdell, UTMA/UGMA and HSA accounts, forms of ownership, trading, and performance measurement.
How to study it: learn each plan and account as rules (who may open it, contributions, withdrawals, tax), then answer scenarios until you can name the deciding fact in each. Work the return measures by hand once. The Section III guide walks through time-weighted versus dollar-weighted return and the Sharpe ratio with numbers.
Section IV: Laws, Regulations and Guidelines, including Unethical Business Practices (30%)
39 scored questions, nearly all of them definitions and conduct rules. The outline covers who counts as an investment adviser, an investment adviser representative, a broker-dealer and an agent; state versus SEC registration and notice filing; Form ADV, books and records; securities registration and exemptions; the Administrator’s powers and the penalties; advisory contracts and advertising; fiduciary duty, fees, custody and discretion; and prohibited practices such as churning and selling away.
Study this section first. Its definitions reappear inside Section III scenarios, and the Section IV guide sorts out the four regulated persons and the line between SEC and state registration.
What study materials you actually need
You need four kinds of material, and two of them are free from NASAA. Pick one of each and finish it; three textbooks cover the same pages three times and leave less time for questions.
| Material | What it does for you | What to check before you rely on it |
|---|---|---|
| NASAA content outline (free) | The list of everything that can be tested, by section and sub-topic | The effective date reads June 2023. Use it as your checklist; it does not explain anything |
| NASAA study guide (free PDF) | Exam format plus the statutes and rules each part of the outline draws on | It names topics and laws but explains none of them; pair it with a textbook |
| One textbook or set of notes | Explanations you can read in order, section by section | It follows the 15/25/30/30 outline, states the pass as 92 of 130, and teaches the 1956 Uniform Securities Act |
| A question bank | Daily practice and your miss log | Every option has an explanation, questions are tagged by section, and there are enough to drill each section without repeats |
| One or two full-length timed exams | A rehearsal of 140 questions in 180 minutes | Same length and time limit as test day; save one for your final week |
Video lectures are optional; they help most with Section III calculations.
When you compare prep courses or study programs, compare what they include. Check that the access period covers your whole schedule plus a buffer week, that full-length exams are included, and that a wrong answer shows why each other option fails too. The exam needs no sponsor and you book it yourself, so nothing ties you to a class calendar.
- Weights are 15/25/30/30 and the outline date is June 2023.
- The pass is given as 92 of the 130 scored questions, never as a percentage.
- State law is taught from the 1956 Uniform Securities Act as amended.
- Delivery is described as in person at a Prometric test center. Since April 2022, online delivery is only for candidates with an approved accommodation (see FINRA, which administers the exam).
- Every practice question explains the right answer and each wrong one.
How to split study time across the sections
Split your hours in proportion to the scored questions, put Section IV first, and leave none of the four sections out. The arithmetic shows why the smaller sections still matter:
78
scored questions in Sections III and IV together
92
right answers you need, out of 130 scored
14+
still needed from the 52 in Sections I and II, even with III and IV perfect
| Section | Scored questions | Share of hours | Of 48 hours | Order |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IV · Laws, regulations, ethics | 39 | 30% | 14½ h | 1st: definitions you will reuse |
| III · Recommendations and strategies | 39 | 30% | 14½ h | 2nd: scenarios built on IV and II |
| II · Investment vehicles | 32 | 25% | 12 h | 3rd: product facts |
| I · Economics and business information | 20 | 15% | 7 h | 4th: formula sheet and terms |
Forty-eight hours is the budget of the 6-week study plan, not a requirement; scale the column to your own total. Section IV still goes first because its rules come up again inside Section III questions.
Answer before you read
Start each session with 10 questions from the section you are on, before opening the chapter. The misses show which pages to read slowly.
Log each miss as a rule
Write one line you could be quizzed on, not a topic name. Re-answer yesterday’s misses first the next day.
Keep the finished sections warm
Once Section IV is done, add 5 of its questions to every later session so the definitions do not fade while you work on III, II and I.
Rehearse once at full length
In the final week, sit one timed run of 140 questions in 180 minutes, then spend the remaining days on the miss log, weakest section first.
For the same route laid out week by week, use the Series 65 study plan. If you only change one thing, change the order: start with Section IV.
Warm-up: six mixed questions
Six original practice questions, at least one per section, to see where you stand. The pad shows one question at a time. Skip to the second pass parks a question until you have seen the rest, and answering opens a note on every option. Nothing is saved after you close the page. For a longer set, the free Series 65 practice test has 60 questions split by section weight.
Warm-up set · 6 questions
0 of 6 answered · 0 right
Question 1 of 6§ I · Economics
A stock with a beta of 0.5 would be expected to:
Pick an answer. The reasoning, and a note on every option, appears here.
Keys: 1–4 or A–D answer · N next · S skip
| Section | Outline weight | Answered | Right |
|---|---|---|---|
| § I Economic Factors and Business Information | 15% | 0 / 2 | 0 |
| § II Investment Vehicle Characteristics | 25% | 0 / 2 | 0 |
| § III Client Investment Recommendations and Strategies | 30% | 0 / 1 | 0 |
| § IV Laws, Regulations, and Guidelines, including Prohibition on Unethical Business Practices | 30% | 0 / 1 | 0 |
The short version
- Practice testFree Series 65 practice test: 60 questions across all 4 sections
- Study planHow long to study for the Series 65, and a plan that follows the section weights
- The examThe Series 65 exam (Uniform Investment Adviser Law Examination): format, scoring and what’s on it
- HomeSeries 65 exam prep: free practice questions, the 4 sections, and how to get licensed
FAQ
What is the best book to study for the Series 65 exam?
Any book that matches the current outline: weights of 15/25/30/30, the pass stated as 92 of 130 scored questions, and state law taught from the 1956 Uniform Securities Act. This site does not rank publishers. Pick one main text, read it beside NASAA’s free outline, and spend more time on questions than on rereading.
Where can I find free study material for the Series 65 exam?
NASAA publishes the content outline and a study guide PDF free to download. On this site you get the 60-question practice test, full notes for Section III and Section IV with a 12-question drill each, and the six warm-up questions above.
What is the best study material for the Series 65 exam?
Four pieces, each with one job: the NASAA outline as your checklist, one textbook for explanations, a question bank that explains every option, and one or two full-length timed exams of 140 questions in 180 minutes.
What are the best study programs for the Series 65 exam?
Judge a program by what it includes. Check that access lasts through your exam date, that it follows the June 2023 outline, that it has full-length timed exams, and that every answer comes with a written explanation. Live classes help only if you need a fixed schedule.
How do I study for Series 65?
Study Section IV first, then III, II and I, with your hours roughly in proportion to their 39, 39, 32 and 20 scored questions. Answer questions before you read each chapter, keep a log of every miss, and sit one full-length timed run in your last week. The study plan turns this into weeks.
Is a FINRA Series 65 study guide different from the NASAA one?
No. The exam is often called the FINRA Series 65 because FINRA administers it, but NASAA develops it and publishes the outline and study guide. Check any guide against the June 2023 outline.
Take the pad with you
Series 65 practice on your iPhone, for the commute and the ten minutes before bed.