Knowing the NISM Series XV syllabus — and which chapters carry the most weight — lets you study smart instead of just hard. This 2026 breakdown walks through every major area of the NISM Research Analyst workbook, what each covers, and how to approach it.
📘 Free download: Get the complete NISM Series XV Research Analyst workbook — PDF (February 2026 edition) — the official 342-page study material this syllabus is based on. Read it alongside topic-wise practice questions to turn reading into recall.
How the NISM Series XV syllabus is structured
The syllabus follows the research process end to end across 15 chapters (February 2026 workbook): understanding markets, analysing the economy and industry, evaluating the company, valuing the stock, weighing risk and return, and finally writing a compliant research report. Here is the chapter-wise map, with each chapter's weightage (marks out of 100).
1. Introduction to Research Analyst Profession (1 mark)
The role, responsibilities and important qualities of a research analyst. Easy, scoring — read once and practise a few questions.
2. Introduction to Securities Market (2 marks)
Securities and market structure, participants and their activities, kinds of transactions, and dematerialisation. Foundational context for everything that follows.
3. Terminology in Equity and Debt Markets (2 marks)
Key terms across equity, debt and commodity markets, plus the main types of bonds. Build your vocabulary here; later chapters assume it.
4. Fundamentals of Research (5 marks)
What investing is, and the fundamental, technical, quantitative and behavioural approaches to research. Conceptual — understand the logic rather than memorising.
5. Economic Analysis (5 marks)
Macroeconomic principles and variables — GDP, inflation, interest rates — plus secular, cyclical and seasonal trends. Expect questions linking indicators to market impact.
6. Industry Analysis (8 marks)
Industry cyclicality and life cycle, market sizing, key industry drivers and KPIs, the regulatory environment and taxation. A favourite for application-style questions.
7. Company Analysis – Business and Governance (6 marks)
Business models, pricing power, competitive advantages, SWOT, management quality, governance and the ESG framework.
8. Company Analysis – Financial Analysis (12 marks)
Reading the P&L, balance sheet and cash-flow statement, plus financial ratios, DuPont analysis, forecasting and peer comparison. High weightage — invest serious practice time here.
9. Corporate Actions (5 marks)
Dividends, rights issues, bonus issues, stock splits and buybacks — and how each affects price and shareholding. Scoring once you understand the mechanics.
10. Valuation Principles (12 marks)
DCF, relative valuation, P/E, P/B, EV/EBITDA, CAGR. One of the highest-weighted, most-tested areas. Practise numerical questions until the formulas are automatic. See our deep dive on DCF valuation for NISM XV.
11. Fundamental Analysis of Commodities (5 marks)
Demand-supply dynamics, commodity cycles and the drivers specific to commodity markets, and how they feed back into equities.
12. Fundamentals of Risk and Return (7 marks)
Core risk measures, return concepts and the basics of risk-return trade-off used across research and portfolio work.
13. Qualities of a Good Research Report (5 marks)
Structure of a research report, disclosures, and conflict-of-interest management — what separates a compliant, useful report from a weak one.
14. Legal and Regulatory Environment (10 marks)
The SEBI (Research Analysts) Regulations, 2014 and the Code of Conduct — registration, obligations and trading restrictions. High weightage and very scoring — memorise key thresholds. See SEBI Research Analyst regulations explained.
15. Technical Analysis (15 marks)
Charts, trends, support/resistance, moving averages, candlestick patterns and indicators like RSI and MACD. The single highest-weighted chapter — learn the core patterns and signals. See technical analysis basics for NISM XV.
High-weightage areas to prioritise
If you are short on time, prioritise the chapters that carry the most marks:
- Technical Analysis — 15 marks.
- Company Analysis – Financial Analysis and Valuation Principles — 12 marks each.
- Legal and Regulatory Environment — 10 marks.
- Industry Analysis — 8 marks.
These five chapters alone account for 57 of the 100 marks, and every one of them is very practice-rewarding.
Smart way to study the syllabus
Rather than reading the workbook cover to cover, practise questions chapter by chapter and review the explanations. This active approach exposes weak spots immediately.
ScoreSetu organises its NISM Series XV questions by topic across this syllabus, so you can drill one area at a time and track mastery on your dashboard.
Cover the syllabus systematically, weight your effort toward valuation, financials and regulations, and you will walk into the NISM Research Analyst exam prepared.