The Series 86 equity research exam is a notoriously hard one. Of all of the exams that we tutor, this one likely has the highest failure rate among very intelligent students. In today’s post we discuss why that is and how to improve your chances.
Equity Research Exam: Overkill for the Job?
A lot of material gets covered on the equity research exam. Not only that, but the depth behind each concept is significant. So much so that there are portions of this exam that can take years to truly understand and internalize (e.g., reconciling conceptual with real-world realities).
All of that said, the Series 86 exam is a necessary hurdle to overcome and you likely only have months to complete it.
In our experience at Professional Exam Tutoring, many intelligent people that are used to passing exams fail this exam at least once.
A major reason for this is that there is only one provider of practice questions – aside from a small number from us.
Further, the practice questions available tend to only be updated periodically. Thus, the exam prep material ends up lagging questions asked on the exam – sometimes by a significant margin.
Tutoring Works
Despite what may now seem like a shameless plug, tutoring is quite effective for this exam. We would venture to guess that this is the one exam required by FINRA where tutoring is often the difference between a pass and a fail for some people.
A key reason for this is that the Series 86 exam has so many nuances. These nuances often go unexplained in the textbook. Tutoring for this exam often helps highlight those nuances. Furthermore, simple explanations (in plain English) are difficult to find.
Certain formulas also need more explanation but don’t often get there. For instance, the Dividend Discount Model and the Gordon Growth Model have their foundations in complex mathematics like calculus – sometimes knowing that can help explain why formulas don’t look intuitive.
Overall, the equity research exam is not an easy one. Don’t try to take this exam without studying. Try to give yourself a good shot and then if you are not able to get over the hump consider a Series 86 Tutor. We hope you don’t need one, but are happy to help. Feel free to reach out. Good luck!