The Series 86 exam is different than any other FINRA exam you will take. Starting out in a career in equity research, you will have to take the SIE, Series 7 Top-Off, and Series 63 exams like a lot of other registered reps. However, the Series 86 and Series 87 exams are unique to equity research. In today’s post, we highlight what is tricky about this exam, and why it has such a high failure rate.
The Series 86 is Different
Simply put, the Series 86 is the hardest FINRA exam that we tutor at Professional Exam Tutoring. The exam is extremely analytical – which makes sense, since it’s for analysts – heavily quantitative.
If you are familiar with how challenging the CFA Exams can be, then you might have some sense of comparison when you learn that only if you have the CFA Level 2 are you exempt from the Series 86 exam. In short, it’s difficult but not insurmountable.
Most people with some background in accounting can get through the exam on the first attempt. However, without an accounting background it can take 2 or 3 tries.
Why?
Let’s discuss.
Practice Tests vs The Real Thing
If you don’t have a background in accounting (basic background, like a course from high school – or advanced background, like the CPA) then this will be a hard exam. An excellent test taker, with a curiosity to learn, will be able to do it with some work. A mediocre test taker with determination and patience will also be able to do it. However, without those attributes it can be tough.
The first reason why this exam is difficult is because there aren’t many resources to help you out. The STC curriculum is the best there is, and the only reputable resource out there. Aside from our tutoring services, there is no other easily searchable resources for Series 86 help.
Without many resources, the practice questions you will have access to are few. As a result you may start to memorize the questions/answers. This makes knowing whether you’re ready or not more difficult. Practice tests are your best bet when studying for this exam (after you understand the material). Practice exams from STC will not always closely approximate the real exam but the principles you learn from them should be good enough.
“Swing and a Miss”
The Series 86 exam pass rate is not published anywhere official. We would venture to say that it could be upward of 40%-50% given what we see from the students that have used our services.
One common denominator that we see among students that fail before they request our services is that their knowledge of formulas and accounting is not quite there. Unfortunately this exam is so challenging that even an intro-level accounting course in college (or high school) may not be enough to get you through it if you are not motivated to put in the time.
To get anywhere in the Series 86 exam, you will need to do some serious work. The Series 86 is different because you can’t get away with straight memorization of concepts, or questions. You will need to have some deeper understanding behind the formulas, and concepts.
Fortunately we know some good tutors that can help 🙂
Make sure to spend some time diving into the material before seeking out help. Investopedia is a great third-party resource to better understand definitions, formulas, and concepts. If you still need more help, feel free to reach out. It’s a hard test to pass, but not impassible. Good luck!