The Series 6 is FINRA's license for selling mutual funds, variable annuities, variable life insurance and other packaged products. Its full name is the Investment Company and Variable Contracts Products Representative Qualification Examination. The exam has 50 scored questions and a 90-minute limit, you need 35 right (70%) to pass, and the fee is $100. FINRA doesn't publish a Series 6 pass rate, but the commonly cited estimate is roughly 58% of attempts.
| Series 6 | |
|---|---|
| Given by | FINRA |
| Format | Computer-based, multiple choice |
| Questions | 50 scored, plus 5 unscored pretest questions (55 on screen) |
| Time | 90 minutes |
| Passing score | 70% (35 of 50) |
| Fee | $100 (FINRA) |
| Prerequisites | The SIE (corequisite), plus sponsorship by a FINRA member firm |
Series 6 or Series 7
The Series 6 is a limited representative license that covers packaged products only. The Series 7 is the general securities license, and it adds individual stocks, bonds, options and direct participation programs. If you'll be selling mutual funds and variable annuities at a bank or insurance company, the Series 6 is the shorter, cheaper path, and plenty of bank and insurance reps never need the Series 7 at all. If you'll trade individual securities and options for clients, or your role grows beyond packaged products later, you need the Series 7, and the Series 7 overview covers it.
Typical Series 6 candidates are bank platform reps, insurance agents adding investment products, and financial services associates who sell mutual funds and variable contracts. Like every FINRA representative exam except the SIE, the Series 6 needs a FINRA member firm to sponsor you by filing a Form U4, so you take it after you're hired. The SIE is a corequisite, and since it doesn't need a sponsor, most candidates pass it first. The SIE overview explains that exam, and FreeFellow's free SIE practice questions cover it.
What the exam covers
FINRA organizes the Series 6 around four job functions:
- Seeking business for the broker-dealer from customers and potential customers: prospecting, communications with the public and the rules around them
- Opening accounts after obtaining and evaluating customers' financial profile and investment objectives: account types, suitability, customer information
- Providing information about investments, making recommendations, transferring assets and maintaining records: mutual funds, variable annuities and variable life, retirement and education accounts, and the disclosures each one requires
- Obtaining and verifying purchase and sale instructions and processing transactions: order handling, settlement, confirmations
The third function is the heart of the exam, and packaged-product mechanics carry the most weight. For mutual funds, know share classes (A, B and C), front-end and back-end sales charges, breakpoints and letters of intent, expense ratios and net asset value. Breakpoint sales and share-class suitability are tested heavily. For variable annuities and variable life, know the accumulation and annuity phases, the separate account, surrender charges, death benefits and how tax deferral works.
People lose points mixing up fixed and variable products. A fixed annuity isn't a security and doesn't require the Series 6. A variable annuity is one, because the contract owner bears the investment risk, which is why it counts as both a security and an insurance product.
The exam also covers traditional and Roth IRAs, 401(k) and 403(b) plans, contribution limits and required distributions, mostly in terms of which packaged products suit which account. The rest is customer profiles, the suitability standard, prohibited practices and the rules on communications with the public.
How long to study
Most candidates study 30 to 60 hours over 3 to 5 weeks. The Series 6 is generally seen as a step harder than the SIE, and its estimated pass rate is lower, partly because it goes deeper on product mechanics and partly because some candidates assume it's the easy license. Breakpoints, surrender charges and the tax treatment of distributions work like calculations, and they stick better when you drill practice questions than when you reread.
The sponsoring firm usually pays the fee and files your Form U4. A failed attempt means a 30-day wait before you can retest, and after three failures the wait is 180 days.
FreeFellow has more than 1,000 free Series 6 practice questions across every FINRA function area, each with a step-by-step solution, and the full bank is free with an account. To find your weakest area first, take the free diagnostic, which is 12 questions with no signup, then work through sample questions by topic on the Series 6 practice page. Keep the formula and limits sheet open for the contribution limits and sales-charge math.
FreeFellow is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by FINRA. The Series 6 and SIE exams are administered by FINRA.