If you want to work in the investment industry in the United States, you’ll likely need to pass the General Securities Representative Exam, known most commonly as the Series 7. While the annual pass rate lands well above that of the CFA exam, only 65% successfully make it through the Series 7 on their first time, so the pressure is on. Without it, you can’t sell securities.
We spoke to Brian Marks, managing director of New York-based FINRA Licensing Exam preparation firm, Knopman Marks Financial Training, on what it takes to pass the Series 7 and other lesser-known financial exams.
1. Put the time in
While each level of the CFA requires a minimum of 300 hours of study, the recommended prep time for the Series 7 exam – assuming you’re new to the industry – is 80-100 hours. This should mean not only consuming the relevant study material, but undertaking at least 1,000 practice questions and taking live exams so you can gain an understanding of the pressure you’ll be under on the day.
2. Think concepts, not questions
A common mistake made by test takers is memorizing answers rather than digesting the actual material, Marks said. It provides a false sense of confidence and is a formula for not passing. When you simply pair questions and answers, wording and delivery can change, and you’ll need to be flexible enough to adapt. “People try brute force to memorize formulas rather than understanding the concepts. If your memory fails on the exam, there is no backup,” he says.
3. Don’t waste time on the technical subjects
In the Series 7, a lot of candidates are guilty of spending way too much time on the options and corporate bonds sectors. “These two topics account for about 20% of the exam,” says Marks. “The old story about the Series 7 was that options and municipal bonds used to make up close to 50% of the test – that was your parent’s Series 7, but that’s not the case anymore. There’s more variety and more emphasis on clients and constructing portfolios for them. There’s a trend towards testing practical knowledge to ensure that people are well equipped to meet clients’ investment needs.”
4. Know the bell curve rule
There are two facts to consider when you’re pondering how much time to spend on each question. First, there are 260 questions in the Series 7 exams but only 250 count. The remaining 10 are experimental questions used by FINRA to help improve the test in the future. So, don’t freak out if you see a question on an unfamiliar topic; this can put you off other questions. Second, there’s a bell curve approach to the exam. The first and last 25 questions are the easiest, so don’t panic if it suddenly gets more difficult.
5. Train for what you’re getting yourself into
The Series 7 exam is six hours long. It’s a beast. There’s a reason you need to immerse yourself into practice exams rather than simply bite-sized study chunks. You need to train like an athlete to get your mind and body used to this marathon period of time.
6. Make sure your study material is up-to-date
This sounds like a small thing, but out-of-date study material means that you’ve pretty much missed the boat. This is particularly the case as regulators change the rules ever more swiftly. The study material you use must be less than a year old.
“Keep an eye out for crowd-funding questions, which may come up,” Marks said. “FINRA will also heavily weight questions on topics that have been the subject of abuses by industry personnel. Examples include variable annuity sales to senior citizens and sales of structured products to less sophisticated investors,” he adds.
FINRA constantly updates the Series 7 content outline. One premium topic is making suitable investment recommendations. “There’s a major trend toward the suitability of investments on the examination,” says Marks. “It’s not so much about rote memorization as it is knowing how particular clients would want to construct a portfolio and knowing what types of products would be appropriate for them.
“For example, zero coupon bonds might be appropriate for someone looking to save for their children’s college tuition, money market funds are good for a client seeking liquidity, while structured products such as equity-linked notes, sophisticated products with leverage, are likely appropriate only for institutional investors with a detailed understanding of how they work,” he adds.
7. Go above and beyond
You need 72% to pass the Series 7 exam, but confidence is key. Realistically, you need to be hitting 80% in the practice exams to go into the day knowing you can pass. The bigger the margin for error, the better.
Have a confidential story, tip, or comment you’d like to share? Contact: btuttle@efinancialcareers.com
Bear with us if you leave a comment at the bottom of this article: all our comments are moderated by actual human beings. Sometimes these humans might be asleep, or away from their desks, so it may take a while for your comment to appear. Eventually it will – unless it’s offensive or libelous (in which case it won’t).
Related articles:
Seven things you may not know about the Series 7 that can help you passHere are seven things about the Series 7 that you may not be aware of. Keep them in mind as you put in all the work and before you walk in that building.
Five questions you’ll need to know the answer to if you want to pass the Series 7While each exam has different questions, all cover the same general principles. Here are five questions you may see, along with the correct answers
Ranking the hedge funds that pay the bestIf you want to get paid top dollar, these are the hedge funds to target.
““