Executive Takeaways
- Passing threshold: 71% (92 correct out of 130 scored questions).
- Exam structure: 140 Multiple Choice Questions (130 scored + 10 unscored pretest). Total 3 hours.
- Governing standards tested: Uniform Securities Act (1956 & 2002), Investment Advisers Act of 1940, SEC Model Rules for Investment Advisers.
- Unscored experimental pretest items are seeded throughout the exam—never let an unfamiliar question derail your clock.
The Series 65 Psychometric Reality Filter
A 3-step mental model for handling high-difficulty NASAA (administered by FINRA) items without losing pacing momentum.
- 1Respect the Blueprint Weights: Anchor your study hours to the highest-weighted domains (S65-1: Economic Factors and Business Information (Macro, Financial Statements) (15% (19 Qs)) and S65-2: Investment Vehicle Characteristics (Equities, Debt, Derivatives, Pooled) (20% (26 Qs))).
- 2Spot Pretest Anomalies: If a prompt tests an obscure edge case outside the published syllabus, treat it as an unscored experimental item, make your best analytical choice, and move on.
- 3Answer Every Single Item: NASAA (administered by FINRA) uses rights-only scoring with zero penalty for incorrect guesses—never leave a question blank.
How NASAA (administered by FINRA) Calculates Your Passing Score
The Uniform Investment Adviser Law Examination is administered via Prometric under 2026 NASAA Content Specifications. To pass, candidates must achieve: 71% (92 correct out of 130 scored questions). Because NASAA (administered by FINRA) equates exam forms statistically to account for slight variations in form difficulty, your goal is consistent mastery across the heavily weighted blueprint domains rather than perfection on obscure trivia.
What Makes This Exam Challenging
High legal nuance: differentiating state-registered vs SEC-registered investment advisers ($100M/$110M AUM thresholds), Form ADV parts 1/2A/2B, and prohibited advisory practices. High-scoring candidates overcome this by anchoring every concept to NASAA (administered by FINRA)'s primary statutory and regulatory authorities (Uniform Securities Act (1956 & 2002), Investment Advisers Act of 1940, SEC Model Rules for Investment Advisers) rather than memorizing surface-level definitions.