Curriculum for Retirement Adviser Exam - NISM
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The National Institute of Securities Markets (NISM) is a public trust established in 2006 by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the regulator of the securities markets in India. The institute carries out a wide range of capacity building activities at various levels aimed at enhancing the quality standards in securities markets.

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Curriculum – NISM-Series-XVII: Retirement Adviser Certification Examination

I. Fundamental Concepts in Retirement Planning

  1. Need for Retirement Planning

  2. Basic financial concepts associated with retirement planning

  3. Features of the retirement goal

  4. Advantages and importance of starting retirement savings early

  5. Risk of Underestimating Retirement Goals

  6. Emotional Aspects of Retirement

 

II. Financial Markets and Investment Products

  1. Need for Making Investments to Reach Retirement Goals

  2. Difference between Savings and Investments

  3. Asset Class and Sub-Asset Classes

  4. Features of Different Asset Classes

  5. Asset Class Returns

  6. Common Risks in Investments

  7. Matching Investor Needs to Asset Class Features

  8. Impact of Macro-Economic Factors on Asset Classes

  9. Asset Allocation

  10. Financial System and Investment Products

 

III. Retirement Planning

  1. Evaluate Client’s Current Situation

  2. Learn the Process of Setting the Retirement Goal

  3. Investing for Accumulation

  4. Post-retirement Stage

  5. Risks in Distribution Stage

  6. Monitor and Update the Retirement Plan

  7. Behavioural Bias in Decision Making

 

IV. Retirement Planning Products: National Pension System

  1. National Pension System

  2. Working of NPS

  3. Subscribing to the NPS

  4. Investing in the NPS

  5. Tax aspects of subscribing to the NPS

 

V. Evaluating Fund Performance and Fund Selection

  1. Return on Investment

  2. Different types of return calculations

  3. Measures of risk in an investment

  4. Benchmarks

  5. Performance Evaluation

  6. Matching investor’s retirement needs to product

 

VI. Other Investment Products

  1. Mandatory Retirement Benefit Schemes

  2. Voluntary Retirement Products

 

VII. Retirement Planning Strategies

  1. Bridging Shortfall in Retirement Corpus

  2. Periodic Investments

  3. Retirement Income from Multiple Sources

  4. Bucket Strategy

  5. Tax Advantages in Different Stages of Retirement

  6. Automating Investments

 

VIII. Special Situations in Retirement

  1. Debt Obligations in Retirement

  2. Documents for Effective Retirement Planning

 

IX. Regulations and Regulators

  1. Indian Regulatory System

  2. Role of Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA)

  3. Role of Regulators

  4. Regulations for Retirement Advisers

  5. Ethics beyond Regulations

  6. Subscriber Grievance Redressal Mechanism

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