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NASAA Series 65 Exam Cheat Sheet (2026)
A free, printable NASAA Series 65 exam cheat sheet: the 72 highest-yield points to know, grouped into 4 sections that follow the exam's content areas, each section with its published weight.
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- 1,163 free NASAA Series 65 practice questions on the same material, every one explained.
- Last updated: August 2026.
Studying in order?
In the Series 65 guide: A named exam-traps list in each of the 14 chapters. Practice here stays free.
Laws, Regulations, and Ethics
30% of the exam- The Investment Advisers Act of 1940 is the primary federal law governing investment advisers and establishes the adviser's fiduciary duty to clients.
- The Uniform Securities Act is model state 'blue-sky' law adopted by states to regulate securities, broker-dealers, agents, investment advisers, and adviser representatives at the state level.
- The state securities regulator is called the Administrator and has broad authority to make rules, investigate, and issue orders in the public interest.
- Antifraud provisions apply to any person who offers, sells, or advises on securities, whether or not that person is registered.
- An investment adviser is defined by a three-prong test: providing advice about securities, as a business, for compensation.
- Advisers with $110 million or more in assets under management generally register with the SEC (federal covered advisers); smaller advisers generally register with the states.
- An investment adviser representative (IAR) is an individual associated with an adviser who gives advice or solicits clients; purely clerical staff are excluded.
- An IAR's registration is tied to association with a specific firm, so changing firms requires updating or re-establishing registration.
- Investment advisers owe a fiduciary duty, the highest standard, requiring them to act in the client's best interest and place client interests ahead of their own.
- The fiduciary duty includes a duty of loyalty and a duty of care, plus full and fair disclosure of material conflicts of interest.
- A suitability standard only requires that a recommendation be appropriate for the client's profile, without the same loyalty and conflict-management obligations.
- The distinction between the adviser fiduciary standard and a suitability standard is heavily tested.
- Form ADV Part 2 (the brochure) discloses the adviser's services, fees, conflicts of interest, and disciplinary history and must be delivered before or at the time of contract.
- Advisers with custody of client assets must use a qualified custodian, ensure clients receive account statements, and may face surprise independent verification.
- Advisers must maintain accurate books and records for a set minimum period, commonly five years, with recent records readily accessible.
- Exercising discretion over a client account generally requires prior written authorization from the client.
- Trading on material nonpublic (inside) information, or tipping others, is prohibited insider trading.
- Borrowing money or securities from a client who is not a lending institution is a prohibited conflict of interest.
- Performance-based fees are generally prohibited except for qualified clients meeting income or net worth thresholds.
- Agency cross transactions require prior written client consent and disclosure; selling away and unfounded guarantees of performance are prohibited.
Client Recommendations and Portfolio Strategies
30% of the exam- Suitable recommendations require understanding the client's objectives, time horizon, risk tolerance, financial situation, and liquidity needs.
- A longer time horizon and higher risk tolerance support a greater allocation to growth equities; a shorter horizon warrants more conservative holdings.
- Liquidity needs require holding enough cash and marketable assets to meet near-term expenses without forced sales.
- As an investor nears the point of needing funds, the allocation should generally shift toward more conservative assets.
- An efficient portfolio offers the highest expected return for a given level of risk and lies on the efficient frontier.
- Diversification reduces unsystematic (company-specific) risk but cannot eliminate systematic (market) risk.
- Adding low- or negatively correlated assets can reduce overall portfolio volatility without necessarily reducing expected return.
- A portfolio's expected return is the weighted average of its holdings' expected returns, but its risk depends on correlations.
- Strategic asset allocation sets long-term target weights and rebalances to them; tactical allocation makes shorter-term shifts.
- Rebalancing trims appreciated asset classes and adds to underweighted ones, enforcing disciplined 'sell high, buy low' behavior.
- Dollar-cost averaging invests a fixed dollar amount at regular intervals, lowering average cost per share over time.
- A market order guarantees execution but not price, while a limit order guarantees price or better but may not execute.
- Long-term capital gains (assets held over one year) are taxed at preferential rates lower than ordinary income.
- The wash-sale rule disallows a loss if a substantially identical security is bought within 30 days before or after the sale.
- Inherited appreciated securities generally receive a step-up in cost basis to fair market value at the date of death.
- Revocable living trusts avoid probate while the grantor retains control; charitable remainder trusts provide income to the donor with the remainder to charity.
- Traditional IRAs and standard 401(k)s use pre-tax contributions and are subject to required minimum distributions; Roth IRAs use after-tax dollars with tax-free qualified withdrawals and no lifetime RMDs.
- Defined benefit plans promise a specified benefit with the employer bearing risk; defined contribution plans tie benefits to contributions and returns, shifting risk to the employee.
- Time-weighted return isolates manager performance from client cash flows; dollar-weighted return reflects the investor's actual experience.
- Alpha measures risk-adjusted excess return, while a higher Sharpe ratio indicates better return per unit of total risk.
Investment Vehicle Characteristics
25% of the exam- Common stock typically carries voting rights and residual claims, while preferred stock generally pays a fixed dividend and ranks ahead of common in liquidation.
- In a corporate liquidation, secured creditors are paid first, then unsecured and subordinated debt, then preferred and finally common stockholders.
- American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) let U.S. investors hold foreign shares in dollars but still carry currency risk.
- Warrants are long-term rights to buy stock at a set price, and rights offerings let existing shareholders buy shares, usually below market, to avoid dilution.
- Bond prices move inversely to interest rates; longer duration and lower coupons increase price sensitivity to rate changes.
- A premium bond has a yield to maturity below its coupon, while a discount bond has a yield to maturity above its coupon.
- Current yield equals annual coupon divided by market price; yield to maturity also accounts for gain or loss as price converges to par.
- Treasury interest is exempt from state and local tax but taxable federally; most municipal bond interest is exempt from federal tax.
- Open-end mutual fund shares transact at net asset value using forward pricing, while closed-end funds and ETFs trade intraday at market prices.
- A unit investment trust holds a fixed, unmanaged portfolio with a set termination date.
- Money market funds seek a stable $1.00 net asset value with high liquidity but are not federally insured.
- REITs must distribute at least 90% of taxable income to shareholders to maintain favorable pass-through tax treatment.
- A call option is the right to buy and a put option is the right to sell at the strike price; futures contracts obligate both parties to transact.
- A fixed annuity guarantees a stated rate with the insurer bearing investment risk, while a variable annuity's value fluctuates with separate account subaccounts, placing risk on the owner.
- Hedge funds and direct participation programs are less liquid, less regulated, and generally limited to accredited or qualified investors.
- Structured products and CMOs derive their value from reference assets or mortgage pools and carry issuer credit or prepayment risk.
Economic Factors and Business Information
15% of the exam- The business cycle moves through expansion, peak, contraction, and trough; contractions bring falling output and rising unemployment.
- Leading indicators (such as building permits and stock prices) change before the economy; lagging indicators (such as the unemployment rate) change after.
- The Consumer Price Index measures inflation through the price of a basket of consumer goods and services.
- An inverted yield curve, with short-term rates above long-term rates, is often watched as a potential recession signal.
- The Federal Reserve conducts monetary policy through the FOMC using open market operations and interest rate targets.
- Fiscal policy, involving taxing and spending, is set by Congress and the Treasury, not the Federal Reserve.
- Monetarists emphasize the money supply as the driver of inflation, while Keynesians emphasize aggregate demand and fiscal policy.
- Central banks generally cut rates in downturns to stimulate activity and raise rates to cool inflation.
- The current ratio (current assets divided by current liabilities) measures short-term liquidity.
- Return on equity, leverage ratios, and interest coverage each measure a different aspect of financial health.
- Fundamental analysis studies earnings, revenues, and competitive position, while technical analysis studies price and volume history.
- Financial statements provide the raw data used to estimate a security's intrinsic value.
- Present value discounts future cash flows to today; a higher discount rate or longer horizon lowers present value.
- Future value grows with higher interest rates and more frequent compounding over more periods.
- Standard deviation measures total volatility, beta measures systematic risk relative to the market, and correlation measures co-movement between assets.
- Total return combines price change and reinvested income, and real return subtracts inflation from the nominal return.
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