So you’ve decided to start your own independent registered investment advisor (RIA) firm and now you learn that you have to schedule the Series 65 exam registration before the state regulators will approve your new RIA firm. How do you do that? First, the Series 65 exam has a total of 130, multiple choice, scored questions on the topics of Economic Factors and Business Information, Investment Vehicle Characteristics, Client Investment Recommendations and Strategies, Laws, Regulations and Guidelines including prohibition on unethical business practices. You will have 180 minutes to complete the exam whereby you will need to pass 94 of the 130 questions correctly. The Series 65 exam is not a broker-dealer test therefore you do not need to be sponsored by a broker-dealer firm to schedule to take the exam. Rather, you can schedule the exam, one of two ways. You can log onto www.finra.org and do a search for the Form U10. Once you complete the Form U10, online, and pay the $165 exam fee, within approximately 2 to 3 days of your submitting that form electronically, you will receive an email with a 120 day window for you to schedule to take the exam. You can contact any of the Prometric Testing Centers in your area to schedule your exam. That same website, www.finra.org will provide a listing of Prometric Centers for you as well as a telephone number. Alternatively, you can open that 120 day window to schedule the Series 65 exam by completing a Form U4 and filing that form on the CRD system. You will also need to pay the $165 exam fee as well as the state registration fee, for where you will be operating your new investment advisory firm. The process is straightforward, however, if questions come up contact Registered Advisor Services for assistance.
