Investment Advisers

Since this is the first of many chapters that sequentially follow the outline for the Series 63 exam prepared by the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA), it’s worth taking a moment to explain the origins of this exam and the regulations you’ll be studying. Understanding its origins and its authors’ intentions should give you some major clues as to why you’re studying what you’re studying. In the process, you will sharpen your test-taking intuition, helping you to narrow the choices down to the correct answer for each question, while spending less time doing it.

One important note about terminology: when I refer to an investment adviser, that often is referring to an entire firm, and not just an individual professional, though it can represent that, too. Hence an investment adviser may be referred to as “they” or “it” throughout the book.

The Series 63 is, at its core, a test of the laws contained within the Uniform Securities Act (USA). The framework for this law w