Passed my third FINRA exam on Securities, first of SIE, then Series 63 & now Series 6! This last one basically covers “packaged” investment securities like mutual funds, variable annuity, variable life and Unit Investment Trust or UIT.
The exam was more challenging than expected, especially considering that I passed Kaplan simulation exams several times with 90% right. Yet after seeing the questions today I had to mark up more than 90% of the questions for review, as only about five questions — out of a total of 55 — I felt confident about the answer. Most questions I’ve never encountered from my Kaplan exam review book showed up on the exam. I thought for sure I’d fail this time.
Perhaps it’s FINRA’s purpose to have surprising questions just to see how we handle the shock, although it’s not fair to the candidates to ask questions that feel totally detached from what’s on the exam book in this field of securities business. Speaking of detachment, there is another type: Financial advisors detached from FinTech. I went to a conference on investment mid-June in NYC, and I can’t say I was impressed by the meeting goers, even most speakers.