The National Institute of Securities Markets (NISM certification) exams and educational programs serve different segments of intermediaries focusing on varied product lines and functional areas.
You can secure a job in Financial Intermediaries, Banks, Secondary Market players, Advisory firms or can be self-employed. You need to be persistent and professional to see the future ahead in the Securities Market.
The certifications provided by NISM, NSE, and BSE are for educational purposes. They are valuable in the sense that it confirms your awareness about the particular segment.
Example: If you have cleared the NISM Series VIII exam, then it shows that you have enough knowledge about the equity derivatives segment and are qualified to be a dealer. But that is the extent of the matter. It does not certify that you know everything about equity derivatives.
Like every course, it will teach you all the basics that you need to know. It will open up a lot of options. But practical knowledge and experience are always valued more than certificates.
The difficulty level of the NISM exams ranges between average to moderately high. For some exams, the contents and way of testing could be more complicated than the others.
To pass a module, you need to secure a minimum of 60% in most of the module exams. Also the exams come with a negative marking of 25% per question.
Very few exams like NISM (Series VA) Mutual Funds Distributors Certification Examination have a minimum passing marks criteria of 50% and they do not have any negative marking.
You can take the help of test prep training for practice papers as they will provide you with good resources.
PGPSM from NISM is a good option if you are aiming for a career in Securities Market. But this program is different from typical PGDM programs offered by B-Schools. In this course, you will learn about shares, derivatives, fixed income markets, various software related to the financial market, etc. The course structure is flexible, you will get ample time to pursue other courses such as CFA, CS, etc.
NISM placements are good. In 2022 the average CTC and the highest CTC offered were INR 7.8 LPA and INR 13.67 LPA. Students get job offers such as Business Development Manager, Business Analyst, Wealth Manager, etc.
A few of my friends pursued the ICICI Business leadership program at NISM. According to their experience, the program is quite unique.
Security markets are a great area to work in and ICICI is an excellent organization that has produced many Stewarts over the years. If you are thinking of pursuing the ICICI Business leadership program at NISM, you should go for it.
NCFM and NISM, both certificates are at par with each other. The basic difference among the certificates is that NCFM is organized by NSE (National Stock Exchange of India Ltd.) and NISM is conducted by SEBI (Securities Exchange Board of India).
NCFM and NISM certifications are definitely meaningful. These will help you improve your knowledge in finance as well as add points to your resume.
NISM - VIII Equity Derivatives Examination is one of the toughest examinations in the NISM series. In order to perform well in the examination, you will need a good understanding of derivatives, it’s uses, and their operations. The passing mark is 60% and there will be a deduction of 0.25 marks for each wrong answer.
One of my friends recently took the examination and according to him, just reading the workbook provided by them is not enough to perform well in the examination. You will need to practice numerical too. My friend used an app called ‘NISM Equity Derivatives See 8’. The app had around 500 questions and solutions. According to my friend it was quite helpful for preparation.
There are no shortcuts for scoring well in NISM-VIII. In order to perform well, you need to have a thorough understanding of Indian derivatives segments.