What Is The Series 7 Exam?

Recently offered a job and find out that you need to take the Series 7 exam?

Seems like it would be helpful to know a little bit about it, right? Below I outline the reasons you need it, the jobs that it covers, and more.

 

What Does the Series 7 Cover?

First of all, if you are new to the finance industry, and working for a broker-dealer then you might have to take the Series 7 exam. The Series 7 exam is a regulatory hurdle you need to conquer for customer-facing jobs in the financial services industry.

As such, you can imagine that the Series 7 is meant to cover a wide range of jobs. Some jobs that require the Series 7 exam include, research analyst (sell-side), equity sales, fixed income sales, trader, financial adviser, and many more.

Ultimately, representatives that sell or advise on general securities need the designation. These securities include: stocks, bonds, preferred stocks, options, individual fixed income products, as well as bundled products.

The license does NOT typically permit a Series 7 holder to sell real estate, life insurance, or commodity futures.

 

Who Offers the Series 7 Exam?

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) offers the Series 7. FINRA ensures that the potential registered representative (what you call someone with the Series 7 license) meets the minimum requirements to execute transactions with all kinds of securities, but as mentioned above, not commodities and futures.

In addition, the Series 7 qualification is usually needed in conjunction with other FINRA exams, such as the Series 63. As of late 2018, the Securities Industry Essential (SIE) exam is a corequisite for the Series 7.

 

What’s in the Series 7 Exam?

Below is the most recent breakdown that we can find on FINRA’s website (as of October 2020).  This breakdown outlines the number of test questions by job function.

Series 7 exam breakdown

Source: FINRA.org

Jobs at broker-dealers carry the heaviest weight. Furthermore, you probably also notice that ethics are covered extensively. Similar to the CFA exam, the Series 7 looks to ensure that you have a basic grasp of ethics.

 

A Few More Notable Details About the Exam

Check out the table below for a little more information about the Series 7 exam. If you’re interested in learning more about Series 7 test prep, this post here will help!

Series 7 exam test detail

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, for more information on how hard it is, and how to pass it, check out our post here. For help with it, try out a tutor or our Series 7 video course. Good luck!