Starting my NISM Research Analyst journey — one workbook, no shortcuts

Bythemarginnotes

This is the first note on themarginnotes, so let me tell you what I’m doing and why you might want to follow along.

I’ve decided to become a SEBI-registered Research Analyst, and later an Investment Adviser. The first real step is passing the NISM-Series-XV: Research Analyst Certification Examination. Instead of buying a course or watching scattered YouTube videos, I’m doing something simple and a little old-fashioned: I’m reading the official workbook published by NISM, cover to cover, and writing down what I learn here as I go.

Why the workbook alone? Because it’s the source. NISM (the National Institute of Securities Markets) is the body that actually sets and conducts the exam, and their workbook is the material the questions are built on. Everything else — courses, videos, notes — is someone’s interpretation of this book. There’s also a practical reason: NISM restructured this exam in January 2026, and a lot of the free material floating around still teaches the old format. Learning from the current official workbook means I’m learning the exam as it actually is now, not as it used to be.

So this blog is my study journal on the road to becoming a Research Analyst and Investment Adviser. I’ll cover each chapter, in plain words, and — this is the part I think will make these notes genuinely useful — I’ll also explain how each topic is tested, because knowing a concept and knowing how NISM questions it are two different things.

Let me start where the workbook starts: what this exam actually is.

What the Research Analyst exam is for

The NISM-Series-XV certification exists to set a common minimum knowledge benchmark for anyone working as a research analyst under the SEBI (Research Analysts) Regulations, 2014 — registered analysts, people employed as analysts, and partners in a research firm. In plain terms: if you want to write or publish equity research professionally in India, this is the qualification you need to clear.

What you’re expected to know

By the end of the workbook, a candidate should understand:

  • The basics of Indian securities markets and equity/debt terminology
  • The top-down and bottom-up approaches to fundamental research
  • Micro and macroeconomic analysis and the variables that drive it
  • Industry analysis — the key drivers and where to find information
  • Company analysis, both qualitative (business, management, governance) and quantitative (financials, ratios, valuation)
  • The fundamentals of risk and return, valuation principles, and corporate actions
  • What makes a good research report
  • The basics of commodities research and technical analysis

That’s a wide net — from “what is a bond” all the way to building a discounted cash flow valuation and reading an audit report.

How the exam is structured (2026 pattern)

Here’s the current format:

  • 80 standalone multiple-choice questions, 1 mark each = 80 marks
  • 5 case-based questions, each with 4 sub-questions of 1 mark = 20 marks
  • Total: 100 marks, in 2 hours
  • Passing score: 60% (60 marks)
  • Negative marking: 25% (−0.25) for each wrong answer
  • A non-programmable calculator is allowed, and the test computers have Excel / LibreOffice Calc

Two things changed in the January 2026 revision that are worth knowing. First, case-based questions now make up a full 20% of the paper — these aren’t simple recall questions. Second, Technical Analysis was added as a new and heavily weighted chapter. If you’re studying from older material, both of these can catch you off guard on exam day.

Where the marks are — the full weightage

The workbook has 15 chapters, and the marks are far from evenly spread. This table decides how I’ll spend my time:

  • Chapter 1 — Introduction to Research Analyst Profession: 1 mark
  • Chapter 2 — Introduction to Securities Market: 2 marks
  • Chapter 3 — Terminology in Equity and Debt Markets: 2 marks
  • Chapter 4 — Fundamentals of Research: 5 marks
  • Chapter 5 — Economic Analysis: 5 marks
  • Chapter 6 — Industry Analysis: 8 marks
  • Chapter 7 — Company Analysis (Business & Governance): 6 marks
  • Chapter 8 — Company Analysis (Financial Analysis): 12 marks
  • Chapter 9 — Corporate Actions: 5 marks
  • Chapter 10 — Valuation Principles: 12 marks
  • Chapter 11 — Fundamental Analysis of Commodities: 5 marks
  • Chapter 12 — Fundamentals of Risk and Return: 7 marks
  • Chapter 13 — Qualities of a Good Research Report: 5 marks
  • Chapter 14 — Legal and Regulatory Environment: 10 marks
  • Chapter 15 — Technical Analysis: 15 marks

Theory or numericals? Where the calculations hide

This is the part most people miss, and it changed how I’ll study. The exam is estimated to carry around 40 numerical problems, and they’re not spread evenly — they cluster in a few chapters. Broadly, the syllabus splits into three kinds of chapters:

Calculation-heavy — you must practise, not just read: Financial Analysis (Ch 8, 12 marks) and Valuation Principles (Ch 10, 12 marks) are the make-or-break of the paper. Together that’s nearly a quarter of your marks, and they’re almost entirely numerical — ratios, DuPont analysis, DCF, P/E and P/BV multiples, and so on. Risk and Return (Ch 12, 7 marks) is also calculation-driven: simple and compounded returns, beta, risk-adjusted returns. Reading these chapters passively will not build the speed the case studies demand. You have to work the numbers.

Theory and scoring — read, understand, bank the marks: Legal and Regulatory Environment (Ch 14, 10 marks) is rule-based with clean answers — high-yield and very scoreable if you simply know the rules. The small early chapters (the profession, securities market, terminology) and Qualities of a Good Research Report are definition-style. These are where you protect your score.

Mixed and the wildcard: Technical Analysis (Ch 15, 15 marks) is the single heaviest chapter and brand new to the exam — chart patterns and concepts that many finance students find unfamiliar. Industry, Company (Business), Economic Analysis, Fundamentals of Research, Corporate Actions and Commodities sit in between: mostly conceptual with some applied questions.

How the case studies actually work

The 5 case sets are the 20 applied marks, and they’re worth understanding in advance. Each set opens with a scenario — a company profile with selected financials, a research-report excerpt, an analyst’s valuation working, or a regulatory situation — followed by 4 questions all drawing on that same information. A typical case might give a company’s revenue, margins, debt and peer multiples, then ask you to compute a ratio, interpret a trend, choose a valuation approach, and identify a disclosure obligation. Four different skills, one fact pattern. You can’t recall your way through these — you have to apply.

My takeaways for how to study this

Putting the weightage and the question-types together, a few things are clear:

Study by weightage, not chapter order. Five chapters — Technical Analysis (15), Financial Analysis (12), Valuation (12), Legal & Regulatory (10) and Industry Analysis (8) — add up to 57 of the 100 marks. More than half the exam lives in five chapters. That said, here on the blog I’ll still go chapter by chapter, in order, so the foundation is built properly and nothing is skipped — the weightage just tells you where to spend extra time when you revise.

Practise the numerical chapters instead of reading them. Financial Analysis and Valuation reward working problems in a spreadsheet, not highlighting paragraphs.

Respect the negative marking. Under a 25% penalty, a blind guess among four options has negative expected value. The smart move is to eliminate down to two plausible answers, then guess — a coin-flip between two is still worth it; a stab among four isn’t.

Don’t cram the regulatory chapter last. It’s pure, rule-based scoring — get it early and lock in those marks.

The plan from here

I’ll work through the workbook chapter by chapter and post what I learn — the key idea in my own words, why it matters, and a short “how this is tested” note at the end of each one. If you’re also preparing for the NISM Research Analyst exam, or you’re just curious how equity research works, follow along. And if you spot something I’ve misunderstood, tell me — I’m learning, and I’d rather be corrected than confidently wrong.

Next up: Chapter 1 — what a Research Analyst actually does. See you in the next note.

Note: These are my personal study notes as I prepare for the NISM-Series-XV Research Analyst exam. They are for learning purposes only and are not investment advice.