Knowing the NISM Series V-A syllabus is useful. Knowing what each chapter is worth is what lets you study efficiently. These weightages come from the "Syllabus Outline with Weightages" table in the official March 2026 workbook.
The full syllabus, by weightage
| Unit | Marks |
|---|---|
| Investor Services | 15 |
| Mutual Fund Scheme Selection | 15 |
| Legal and Regulatory Framework | 10 |
| Scheme Related Information | 10 |
| Investment Landscape | 8 |
| Net Asset Value, Total Expense Ratio and Pricing of Units | 8 |
| Risk, Return and Performance of Funds | 7 |
| Mutual Fund Scheme Performance | 7 |
| Concept and Role of a Mutual Fund | 6 |
| Fund Distribution and Channel Management Practices | 6 |
| Legal Structure of Mutual Funds in India | 4 |
| Taxation | 4 |
| Total | 100 |
Where to spend your time
Two chapters carry 30 marks between them. With a pass mark of 50%, Investor Services and Scheme Selection alone get you more than half way there. Neither is conceptually hard — both are largely recall — which makes them the highest-return hours in the syllabus.
The next tier is 36 marks across four chapters: the regulatory framework, scheme documents, the investment landscape and NAV and pricing. Regulation and documents are memorisation; NAV is the one place with real arithmetic.
The smallest units are 4 marks each — Legal Structure and Taxation. Learn them, because 8 marks is 8 marks against a 50 pass mark, but do not let them eat time that belongs higher up the table.
What each unit actually asks
Investor Services (15) — account opening and KYC, purchase and redemption, cut-off timing and applicable NAV, time stamping, SIP, SWP and STP, nomination and transmission, the consolidated account statement. Pure operational detail. Full chapter guide.
Mutual Fund Scheme Selection (15) — the risk-return hierarchies, core and satellite portfolios, matching a scheme to an investor's need and horizon, and the selection parameters: performance, portfolio, fund age and size, turnover, expenses. Largely four hierarchies you either know or you don't. Full chapter guide.
Legal and Regulatory Framework (10) — SEBI's mutual fund regulations, the trust structure and who answers to whom, AMFI's code of conduct, KYC and PMLA obligations, and the SCORES grievance route.
Scheme Related Information (10) — SID, SAI and KIM and which one accompanies the application form, the riskometer, benchmarks and addenda. Both chapters covered here.
Investment Landscape (8) — savings against investment, risk and return, inflation and real return, compounding, and the options open to an Indian household.
NAV, TER and Pricing (8) — computing NAV, what the expense ratio covers and how its slabs step down with scheme size, loads, and the two conditions that fix the applicable NAV. Full chapter guide.
Risk, Return and Performance (7) — absolute, annualised and CAGR returns, standard deviation, beta and Sharpe, tracking error, and the risks specific to debt portfolios.
Mutual Fund Scheme Performance (7) — benchmarking properly, point-to-point against rolling returns, and how performance may and may not be presented.
Concept and Role of a Mutual Fund (6) — pooling, scheme categories, open- and close-ended, ETFs.
Fund Distribution (6) — distributor types, ARN and EUIN, commission and trail, due diligence and conduct. See how MFD commission actually works.
Legal Structure (4) — sponsor, trustees, AMC, custodian and RTA.
Taxation (4) — capital gains on equity and debt schemes, dividend taxation, TDS and STT.
A three-week plan that follows the weightage
Week 1 — the 30-mark pair. Investor Services and Scheme Selection, nothing else. Drill the hierarchies until they are automatic and work through the cut-off timing rules by hand.
Week 2 — the 36-mark tier. Regulation, scheme documents, investment landscape, NAV and pricing. Use active recall rather than re-reading; these are lists, and re-reading a list produces recognition rather than recall.
Week 3 — the rest, then mocks. Risk and performance, concept and role, distribution, legal structure, taxation. Then stop studying chapter by chapter and sit full papers.
Remember the two things that make V-A forgiving: the pass mark is 50%, and there is no negative marking, so answer all 100 questions.
Practise by chapter free on ScoreSetu — the practice list is ordered by these exact weightages, heaviest first, so the top of the page is always where your next mark is cheapest.