What you need to know about the test for “qual”: personal experience of private investors

From September 1, Russian investors can obtain qualified status by passing a special exam. At the moment, the National Financial Association (NFA) (they issue a certificate “Qualifin”) and the Financial Services platform, which is part of the Moscow Exchange group (MOEX Investor certificate), offer testing.

The division of investors into qualified and unqualified appeared in Russia in 2020. Qualified investors can without restrictions buy shares of companies from unfriendly countries and structural bonds, make margin transactions, use other complex financial instruments.

In addition to passing the exam, you can also obtain the status of “quala” in 2026 according to one of the following criteria:

possession of assets in the amount of at least а24 million; income of at least а12 million per year for the last two years; transactions in the market for at least а6 million in the last four quarters (but at least ten transactions per quarter and at least one per month); experience in the financial market; higher economic education or education in the field of accounting and taxes.

RBC Investments interviewed private investors who had undergone either real or trial tests and asked them to share their opinion on the exam and how to prepare for it.

The results of the first month of taking the exam, the most difficult issues for investors and life hacks for successful passing will be discussed today with Deputy Chairman of the Bank of Russia Mikhail Mamuta and President of the National Financial Association Vasily Zablotsky live at 17:10 MSK on RBC and Radio RBC in the program "Markets.Main".

What you need to know before passing the exam for “quala”: the first experience of private investors

Daniil Kochergin, author of the telegram channel Real Estate Funds

Kochergin said that he passed the exam of the Moscow Exchange on September 26 and on the first attempt scored 41 points out of 50 (passing point – 35). The investor admitted that he had a humanitarian education, so some of the topics he had to study from scratch.

“The examination tests not so much the depth of knowledge as the attentiveness to formulations. Many of the wrong options are cut off by common sense: “guaranteed income”, “complete anonymity”, “releases from any responsibility” – all this is not in the investment.

He was most easily given questions about regulation and the structure of the market, as well as closed mutual funds (ZPIFs), since Kochergin himself writes about real estate funds. The most difficult topics were options and futures, which he had never traded. Estimated tasks, according to him, are simple, which can be solved usually in three or four actions. However, the answers are adjusted for typical errors: you can forget to bring a bet to a year or count one futures contract instead of all.

There are six thematic blocks on the exam: financial instruments for qualified investors, risk management, law and taxes, market structure, reporting and financial mathematics.

Kochergin approached the preparation thoroughly:

passed a free demo test on "Finservices" and without preparation scored 36 points - one above the pass; disassembled all the topics from the rules of the exam and demo test, collected a note in PDF; with the help of AI made a training exam for 50 questions with a timer and error analysis.

It took about two weeks to prepare.

To pass, you need to understand the mechanics, not to learn the definitions: how the put option differs from the call, how the futures work, who bears the risk in repo, how the duration works, what happens to assets in the bankruptcy of a broker. And, of course, be able to count the yield of bonds, the investor shared his experience.

Kochergin also advised to choose the following tactics: first skip difficult questions and return to them at the end, as well as set up a calculator in advance - you can use it on the exam.

In general, he considers the testing to be professional and notes that the training itself has helped him to significantly improve his knowledge. The only change that Kochergin would propose to make concerns questions with several correct answers: now one inaccurate tick zeroes the entire result per question. “A person can understand a topic almost completely, but for one mistake, get zero. I would evaluate such questions in part, he said.

Artem Govorun, financial journalist, analyst

The exam seemed quite balanced in complexity. “Initially, I was preparing for what would be much harder. The questions covered a wide range of topics, but at a rather deep level. Therefore, the answer is intuitive, as a rule, it does not work – it is necessary to understand the topic and know the answer, the investor shares his impressions.

He was most easily given questions about financial instruments for qualifiers, financial accounting and reporting, financial mathematics and risk management. More complex are the legal regulation of the financial market, taxation and protection of investors’ rights, as well as the structure of the financial market and its subjects.

During the preparation, Artem Govorun studied the NFA document, refreshed his knowledge on familiar topics and tightened the gaps. At the same time, he advises to pay special attention to the first block, which accounts for at least 40% of questions. "Diversification for investors works even here," he jokes.

According to him, if the investor confidently understands about 70% of the material from the structure of the exam, and better has a stock of knowledge, you can try to pass.

In general, Govorun considers the structure of the exam to be qualitative, although he notes some ambiguous formulations and repetitions of topics. “There is nothing to remove, and it is only necessary to add questions and qualitative improvements to the exam,” he concluded.

Evgeny Popov, author of IF Crypto and Evgen Telegram channels

The investor admitted that one of the most difficult topics in testing for him was options. I infected many around me with the idea of taking this test, and almost everyone stumbled on options. For me, it also turned out to be a difficult topic: once I traded them, but I have already forgotten a lot.

According to Popov, difficulties also arose with tasks on interest and profitability. Trial tests he passed quite quickly, gaining 45-48 points with a passing 35. At the same time, even a simple question can be confusing due to complex formulations, the investor notes.

“Both assignments and answers are written in complex, academic language. I think the wording can be made clearer. Even an investor with experience in long-term investments will have to learn, he explained.

To prepare, Popov collected his own textbook with the help of AI - from the design of markets and basic instruments to options, REPO, CFA, reporting and settlement tasks. “The main thing is to understand the mechanics of the tool: who owes whom and what, how the profitability is obtained and what will happen if the situation does not go according to plan,” he said.

Separately, the investor advises to practice calculating interest and profitability and understand options. Tests are also useful, he said, because they allow you to see weaknesses and get used to terminology.

At the same time, Evgeny Popov noted that he had problems with proctoring - the exam was not counted because of speaking questions out loud.

“I used to taunt when I read: the first exam was not counted because of this,” says Popov.

After the appeal, the re-check ended in refusal because of several monitors near the workplace. As a result, the trial tests he was successful, but the official result he did not count because of the observations of proctoring.

Denis Morozenko, private investor

The investor has successfully passed a trial test from the NFA and assesses its complexity as average. The general questions, he said, are quite simple: they are the definitions and basic principles of options, structural bonds and other instruments that are familiar to a person with experience on the exchange. More difficult are questions about rare and exotic tools that the investor does not face in everyday practice.

The investor admits that he did not prepare specifically for the exam, but simply saw the news about testing and decided to try it. At the same time, Morozenko believes that before the exam it is useful to pass the tests of brokers for the admission of unqualified investors to complex products and train to calculate the yield at a compound interest.

Among the proposals for the content of the exam, Morozenko believes that it is necessary to remove questions on technical analysis. Instead, he thinks it’s worth adding more questions about the international aspects of investing that might be relevant to qualified investors.

Chairman of the Board of the Association of Institutional and Retail Investors (AIRI) Ilya Khersontsev

Khersontsev also passed only a trial test from Financial Services, which was successfully passed. According to him, the issues cover both basic topics – calculation of yield at compound interest, the basics of technical and fundamental analysis, the impact of rates on bond prices – and instruments that are more designed for qualified investors: CFAs, zpifs, over-the-counter stocks, options and the term market.

“Successful completion of the exam does not automatically mean that you will make money on products for qualified investors. The task of the exam, in my opinion, is not to check the thorough knowledge of the subject, but to find out: the investor understands what it is about, knows the main parameters of financial products that you need to pay attention to, and will be able to limit your risk.

The main practical advice from Khersontsev is to first pass a trial exam, as close as possible to the real one. If knowledge is lacking, it is worth additionally studying the topics where difficulties arose.

“I advise investors not to follow the path of learning and clues. Get some understanding. If you don’t understand the questions and don’t know the answers, it means the risks to your investment will be very high.

According to the investor, a person who is already familiar with the market can take two weeks to prepare. He himself has experience in passing the qualification exam of the FSFR in 2017 and considers the current test easier. Then it was prepared for about a month, and the examination base consisted of 2,000 questions against about 500 now.

“An investor is not required to be an investment superspecialist to pass an examination. Prolonged training is also not required. But you definitely will not be able to pass the exam if you do not have at least average knowledge and experience, and this is good for your savings, concluded Ilya Khersontsev.