Investment Adviser Exam Prep: Series 65
A career-pathway course that takes a high-school student from zero to a full-length practice Series 65 — the state exam for investment adviser representatives — through the true stories behind the rules: the Buttonwood sycamore of 1792, the Crash of 1929 and the laws it forced, Mr. Howey’s orange groves, Harry Markowitz’s portfolio mathematics and Bernard Madoff’s empty custody accounts.
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What to cover
50 of 50 lessons are MUST COVER. They are tested on the unit tests and exams, or are skills the SAT/ACT relies on. OPTIONAL lessons are enrichment. Do them if time allows. The course is complete when the MUST COVER lessons are done.
Unit 1: The Calling and the Path
- MUST COVER 1.1 The Investment Adviser: A Fiduciary’s Calling · exam
- MUST COVER 1.2 From Buttonwood to Black Thursday: How American Markets Grew · exam
- MUST COVER 1.3 Truth After the Crash: The Securities Acts of 1933 and 1934 · exam
- MUST COVER 1.4 The Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and the Blue-Sky Laws · exam
- MUST COVER 1.5 The Series 65 Exam: Format, Enrollment and Your Study Plan · exam
Unit 2: Economic Factors and Business Information
- MUST COVER 2.1 The Business Cycle and GDP: Measuring the Economy · exam
- MUST COVER 2.2 Economic Indicators: Leading, Lagging and the CPI · exam
- MUST COVER 2.3 Money and the Federal Reserve: Monetary Policy · exam
- MUST COVER 2.4 Fiscal Policy, Sovereign Debt and Exchange Rates · exam
- MUST COVER 2.5 Inflation, Interest Rates and the Yield Curve · exam
Unit 3: Reading the Numbers
- MUST COVER 3.1 Financial Reports: The Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Cash Flow · exam
- MUST COVER 3.2 Ratios: Liquidity, Leverage and Valuation · exam
- MUST COVER 3.3 The Time Value of Money: Present Value, NPV and IRR · exam
- MUST COVER 3.4 Statistics for Investors: Mean, Median and Standard Deviation · exam
- MUST COVER 3.5 Types of Risk and the Ladder of Liquidation · exam
Unit 4: Cash and Fixed Income
- MUST COVER 4.1 Cash and the Money Market: Deposits, CDs and Treasury Bills · exam
- MUST COVER 4.2 Lending to the Government: Treasuries, TIPS and Agencies · exam
- MUST COVER 4.3 Corporate, Municipal and Foreign Bonds · exam
- MUST COVER 4.4 Bond Features: Coupons, Calls and Credit Ratings · exam
- MUST COVER 4.5 Bond Mathematics: Prices, Yields and Duration · exam
Unit 5: Equity Securities
- MUST COVER 5.1 Common Stock and Shareholder Rights · exam
- MUST COVER 5.2 Preferred Stock, Convertibles and Dividends · exam
- MUST COVER 5.3 Restricted Stock and Employee Stock Options · exam
- MUST COVER 5.4 Fundamental Analysis: Value from Earnings and Dividends · exam
- MUST COVER 5.5 Technical Analysis: Reading the Charts · exam
Unit 6: Funds, Derivatives and Insurance Products
- MUST COVER 6.1 Mutual Funds: Shares of a Great Pool · exam
- MUST COVER 6.2 Closed-End Funds, UITs, ETFs and REITs · exam
- MUST COVER 6.3 Private Funds and Alternative Investments · exam
- MUST COVER 6.4 Options, Futures and Other Derivatives · exam
- MUST COVER 6.5 Annuities and Life Insurance · exam
Unit 7: The Client
- MUST COVER 7.1 Types of Clients and the Client Profile · exam
- MUST COVER 7.2 Taxes the Adviser Must Know: Income, Capital Gains and Estates · exam
- MUST COVER 7.3 Retirement Plans: IRAs, Roths and Qualified Plans · exam
- MUST COVER 7.4 ERISA: The Plan Fiduciary’s Rules · exam
- MUST COVER 7.5 Special Accounts and Passing Wealth On · exam
Unit 8: Building and Measuring Portfolios
- MUST COVER 8.1 Capital Market Theory: Markowitz, CAPM and Efficient Markets · exam
- MUST COVER 8.2 Strategies and Styles: Allocation, Active and Passive · exam
- MUST COVER 8.3 Techniques: Diversification, Rebalancing and Dollar-Cost Averaging · exam
- MUST COVER 8.4 Trading: Orders, Margin and Best Execution · exam
- MUST COVER 8.5 Measuring Performance: Returns, Benchmarks and Risk Adjustment · exam
Unit 9: The Laws
- MUST COVER 9.1 The Federal Acts: 1933, 1934 and the Two Acts of 1940 · exam
- MUST COVER 9.2 Who Must Register: Advisers, Representatives, Broker-Dealers and Agents · exam
- MUST COVER 9.3 Registration in Practice: Form ADV, Records and Renewals · exam
- MUST COVER 9.4 What Is a Security: The Howey Test and Registration of Issues · exam
- MUST COVER 9.5 The Administrator: Powers, Penalties and Remedies · exam
Unit 10: Ethics and the Capstone
- MUST COVER 10.1 Speaking the Truth: Disclosures, Advertising and Client Contracts · exam
- MUST COVER 10.2 Honest Compensation: Fees, Commissions and Soft Dollars · exam
- MUST COVER 10.3 Guarding Client Property: Custody, Discretion and Madoff’s Warning · exam
- MUST COVER 10.4 Prohibited Practices: Churning, Front Running and Insider Trading · exam
- MUST COVER 10.5 The Capstone: Cybersecurity, Continuity and Exam Day · exam
36-week pacing calendar
From the course’s own 33-week pacing guide, with catch-up and review weeks added to fill a 36-week (180-day) year.
| Week | Plan | Done | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | Day 1: Lesson 1.1 The Investment Adviser: A Fiduciary’s Calling: video, teaching and worked examples Day 2: Lesson 1.1: project and notebook Day 3: Lesson 1.1: practice set and corrections Day 4: Lesson 1.2 From Buttonwood to Black Thursday: How American Markets Grew: video, teaching and worked examples Day 5: Lesson 1.2: project and notebook | ||
| Wk 2 | Day 1: Lesson 1.2: practice set and corrections Day 2: Lesson 1.3 Truth After the Crash: The Securities Acts of 1933 and 1934: video, teaching and worked examples Day 3: Lesson 1.3: project and notebook Day 4: Lesson 1.3: practice set and corrections Day 5: Lesson 1.4 The Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and the Blue-Sky Laws: video, teaching and worked examples | ||
| Wk 3 | Day 1: Lesson 1.4: project and notebook Day 2: Lesson 1.4: practice set and corrections Day 3: Lesson 1.5 The Series 65 Exam: Format, Enrollment and Your Study Plan: video, teaching and worked examples Day 4: Lesson 1.5: project and notebook Day 5: Lesson 1.5: practice set and corrections | ||
| Wk 4 | Day 1: Unit 1 test Day 2: Lesson 2.1 The Business Cycle and GDP: Measuring the Economy: video, teaching and worked examples Day 3: Lesson 2.1: project and notebook Day 4: Lesson 2.1: practice set and corrections Day 5: Lesson 2.2 Economic Indicators: Leading, Lagging and the CPI: video, teaching and worked examples | ||
| Wk 5 | Day 1: Lesson 2.2: project and notebook Day 2: Lesson 2.2: practice set and corrections Day 3: Lesson 2.3 Money and the Federal Reserve: Monetary Policy: video, teaching and worked examples Day 4: Lesson 2.3: project and notebook Day 5: Lesson 2.3: practice set and corrections | ||
| Wk 6 | Day 1: Lesson 2.4 Fiscal Policy, Sovereign Debt and Exchange Rates: video, teaching and worked examples Day 2: Lesson 2.4: project and notebook Day 3: Lesson 2.4: practice set and corrections Day 4: Lesson 2.5 Inflation, Interest Rates and the Yield Curve: video, teaching and worked examples Day 5: Lesson 2.5: project and notebook | ||
| Wk 7 | Day 1: Lesson 2.5: practice set and corrections Day 2: Unit 2 test Day 3: Lesson 3.1 Financial Reports: The Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Cash Flow: video, teaching and worked examples Day 4: Lesson 3.1: project and notebook Day 5: Lesson 3.1: practice set and corrections | ||
| Wk 8 | Day 1: Lesson 3.2 Ratios: Liquidity, Leverage and Valuation: video, teaching and worked examples Day 2: Lesson 3.2: project and notebook Day 3: Lesson 3.2: practice set and corrections Day 4: Lesson 3.3 The Time Value of Money: Present Value, NPV and IRR: video, teaching and worked examples Day 5: Lesson 3.3: project and notebook | ||
| Wk 9 | Day 1: Lesson 3.3: practice set and corrections Day 2: Lesson 3.4 Statistics for Investors: Mean, Median and Standard Deviation: video, teaching and worked examples Day 3: Lesson 3.4: project and notebook Day 4: Lesson 3.4: practice set and corrections Day 5: Lesson 3.5 Types of Risk and the Ladder of Liquidation: video, teaching and worked examples | ||
| Wk 10 | Day 1: Lesson 3.5: project and notebook Day 2: Lesson 3.5: practice set and corrections Day 3: Unit 3 test Day 4: Lesson 4.1 Cash and the Money Market: Deposits, CDs and Treasury Bills: video, teaching and worked examples Day 5: Lesson 4.1: project and notebook | ||
| Wk 11 | Day 1: Lesson 4.1: practice set and corrections Day 2: Lesson 4.2 Lending to the Government: Treasuries, TIPS and Agencies: video, teaching and worked examples Day 3: Lesson 4.2: project and notebook Day 4: Lesson 4.2: practice set and corrections Day 5: Lesson 4.3 Corporate, Municipal and Foreign Bonds: video, teaching and worked examples | ||
| Wk 12 | Day 1: Lesson 4.3: project and notebook Day 2: Lesson 4.3: practice set and corrections Day 3: Lesson 4.4 Bond Features: Coupons, Calls and Credit Ratings: video, teaching and worked examples Day 4: Lesson 4.4: project and notebook Day 5: Lesson 4.4: practice set and corrections | ||
| Wk 13 | Day 1: Lesson 4.5 Bond Mathematics: Prices, Yields and Duration: video, teaching and worked examples Day 2: Lesson 4.5: project and notebook Day 3: Lesson 4.5: practice set and corrections Day 4: Unit 4 test Day 5: Lesson 5.1 Common Stock and Shareholder Rights: video, teaching and worked examples | ||
| Wk 14 | Day 1: Lesson 5.1: project and notebook Day 2: Lesson 5.1: practice set and corrections Day 3: Lesson 5.2 Preferred Stock, Convertibles and Dividends: video, teaching and worked examples Day 4: Lesson 5.2: project and notebook Day 5: Lesson 5.2: practice set and corrections | ||
| Wk 15 | Day 1: Lesson 5.3 Restricted Stock and Employee Stock Options: video, teaching and worked examples Day 2: Lesson 5.3: project and notebook Day 3: Lesson 5.3: practice set and corrections Day 4: Lesson 5.4 Fundamental Analysis: Value from Earnings and Dividends: video, teaching and worked examples Day 5: Lesson 5.4: project and notebook | ||
| Wk 16 | Day 1: Lesson 5.4: practice set and corrections Day 2: Lesson 5.5 Technical Analysis: Reading the Charts: video, teaching and worked examples Day 3: Lesson 5.5: project and notebook Day 4: Lesson 5.5: practice set and corrections Day 5: Unit 5 test | ||
| Wk 17 | Catch-up and review week (no new lessons) | ||
| Wk 18 | Day 1: Review day for the midterm Day 2: Midterm exam (60 questions, two hours, one sitting) Day 3: Lesson 6.1 Mutual Funds: Shares of a Great Pool: video, teaching and worked examples Day 4: Lesson 6.1: project and notebook Day 5: Lesson 6.1: practice set and corrections | ||
| Wk 19 | Day 1: Lesson 6.2 Closed-End Funds, UITs, ETFs and REITs: video, teaching and worked examples Day 2: Lesson 6.2: project and notebook Day 3: Lesson 6.2: practice set and corrections Day 4: Lesson 6.3 Private Funds and Alternative Investments: video, teaching and worked examples Day 5: Lesson 6.3: project and notebook | ||
| Wk 20 | Day 1: Lesson 6.3: practice set and corrections Day 2: Lesson 6.4 Options, Futures and Other Derivatives: video, teaching and worked examples Day 3: Lesson 6.4: project and notebook Day 4: Lesson 6.4: practice set and corrections Day 5: Lesson 6.5 Annuities and Life Insurance: video, teaching and worked examples | ||
| Wk 21 | Day 1: Lesson 6.5: project and notebook Day 2: Lesson 6.5: practice set and corrections Day 3: Unit 6 test Day 4: Lesson 7.1 Types of Clients and the Client Profile: video, teaching and worked examples Day 5: Lesson 7.1: project and notebook | ||
| Wk 22 | Day 1: Lesson 7.1: practice set and corrections Day 2: Lesson 7.2 Taxes the Adviser Must Know: Income, Capital Gains and Estates: video, teaching and worked examples Day 3: Lesson 7.2: project and notebook Day 4: Lesson 7.2: practice set and corrections Day 5: Lesson 7.3 Retirement Plans: IRAs, Roths and Qualified Plans: video, teaching and worked examples | ||
| Wk 23 | Day 1: Lesson 7.3: project and notebook Day 2: Lesson 7.3: practice set and corrections Day 3: Lesson 7.4 ERISA: The Plan Fiduciary’s Rules: video, teaching and worked examples Day 4: Lesson 7.4: project and notebook Day 5: Lesson 7.4: practice set and corrections | ||
| Wk 24 | Day 1: Lesson 7.5 Special Accounts and Passing Wealth On: video, teaching and worked examples Day 2: Lesson 7.5: project and notebook Day 3: Lesson 7.5: practice set and corrections Day 4: Unit 7 test Day 5: Lesson 8.1 Capital Market Theory: Markowitz, CAPM and Efficient Markets: video, teaching and worked examples | ||
| Wk 25 | Day 1: Lesson 8.1: project and notebook Day 2: Lesson 8.1: practice set and corrections Day 3: Lesson 8.2 Strategies and Styles: Allocation, Active and Passive: video, teaching and worked examples Day 4: Lesson 8.2: project and notebook Day 5: Lesson 8.2: practice set and corrections | ||
| Wk 26 | Day 1: Lesson 8.3 Techniques: Diversification, Rebalancing and Dollar-Cost Averaging: video, teaching and worked examples Day 2: Lesson 8.3: project and notebook Day 3: Lesson 8.3: practice set and corrections Day 4: Lesson 8.4 Trading: Orders, Margin and Best Execution: video, teaching and worked examples Day 5: Lesson 8.4: project and notebook | ||
| Wk 27 | Day 1: Lesson 8.4: practice set and corrections Day 2: Lesson 8.5 Measuring Performance: Returns, Benchmarks and Risk Adjustment: video, teaching and worked examples Day 3: Lesson 8.5: project and notebook Day 4: Lesson 8.5: practice set and corrections Day 5: Unit 8 test | ||
| Wk 28 | Day 1: Lesson 9.1 The Federal Acts: 1933, 1934 and the Two Acts of 1940: video, teaching and worked examples Day 2: Lesson 9.1: project and notebook Day 3: Lesson 9.1: practice set and corrections Day 4: Lesson 9.2 Who Must Register: Advisers, Representatives, Broker-Dealers and Agents: video, teaching and worked examples Day 5: Lesson 9.2: project and notebook | ||
| Wk 29 | Day 1: Lesson 9.2: practice set and corrections Day 2: Lesson 9.3 Registration in Practice: Form ADV, Records and Renewals: video, teaching and worked examples Day 3: Lesson 9.3: project and notebook Day 4: Lesson 9.3: practice set and corrections Day 5: Lesson 9.4 What Is a Security: The Howey Test and Registration of Issues: video, teaching and worked examples | ||
| Wk 30 | Day 1: Lesson 9.4: project and notebook Day 2: Lesson 9.4: practice set and corrections Day 3: Lesson 9.5 The Administrator: Powers, Penalties and Remedies: video, teaching and worked examples Day 4: Lesson 9.5: project and notebook Day 5: Lesson 9.5: practice set and corrections | ||
| Wk 31 | Day 1: Unit 9 test Day 2: Lesson 10.1 Speaking the Truth: Disclosures, Advertising and Client Contracts: video, teaching and worked examples Day 3: Lesson 10.1: project and notebook Day 4: Lesson 10.1: practice set and corrections Day 5: Lesson 10.2 Honest Compensation: Fees, Commissions and Soft Dollars: video, teaching and worked examples | ||
| Wk 32 | Day 1: Lesson 10.2: project and notebook Day 2: Lesson 10.2: practice set and corrections Day 3: Lesson 10.3 Guarding Client Property: Custody, Discretion and Madoff’s Warning: video, teaching and worked examples Day 4: Lesson 10.3: project and notebook Day 5: Lesson 10.3: practice set and corrections | ||
| Wk 33 | Day 1: Lesson 10.4 Prohibited Practices: Churning, Front Running and Insider Trading: video, teaching and worked examples Day 2: Lesson 10.4: project and notebook Day 3: Lesson 10.4: practice set and corrections Day 4: Lesson 10.5 The Capstone: Cybersecurity, Continuity and Exam Day: video, teaching and worked examples Day 5: Lesson 10.5: project and notebook | ||
| Wk 34 | Day 1: Lesson 10.5: practice set and corrections Day 2: Unit 10 test Day 3: Review day for the final Day 4: Final exam: a full-length practice Series 65 (130 questions, three hours, one sitting) Day 5: Score the final as the real exam would (92 of 130 passes), review every miss, and plan the real enrollment with your parents | ||
| Wk 35 | Catch-up week: finish any MUST COVER lesson not yet done | ||
| Wk 36 | Year-end review, portfolio and records |
Grading: Practice sets (completed and corrected) 15%, Projects (real numbers, organization, explanation) 20%, Exam notebook (definitions, formulas, trap lists, corrected misses) 10%, Unit tests 30%, Midterm exam (60 questions, timed) 10%, Final exam (full-length 130-question practice Series 65, timed) 15%. Scale: A 90–100, B 80–89, C 70–79, D 60–69, F below 60.