The Research Analyst registration requires two exams: the Series 86 (analysis — 100 questions, 4.5 hours) taken first, then the Series 87 (regulation — 50 questions, 105 minutes), plus the SIE and firm sponsorship. Passing scores sit in the low-to-mid 70s. The path's famous shortcut: passing CFA Levels I and II can exempt you from the Series 86 — but nothing exempts anyone from the 87. It's the license behind every name on published equity research.
FINRA splits the Research Analyst Qualification Exam into the two halves of the job. The Series 86 certifies that you can do the analysis — collect and validate data, build and interpret models, forecast, and value companies. The Series 87 certifies that you can publish it legally — the disclosure, conflict, and communication rules that govern research at member firms. Anyone who prepares research reports on equity securities at a FINRA member firm needs the registration, which is why the 86/87 sits behind the names on every sell-side note — and applies to buy-side analysts too when their research is publicly distributed.
Sequencing is fixed: SIE (the co-requisite you can pass anytime), then Series 86, then Series 87, with firm sponsorship throughout. Career-wise it's the research sibling of the Series 79 — banking and research split into separate registrations for the same reason: so each tests the actual job.
| Series 86 (Part I — Analysis) | Series 87 (Part II — Regulation) | |
|---|---|---|
| Questions | 100 scored | 50 scored |
| Time | 270 minutes (4.5 hrs) | 105 minutes |
| Passing score | ~73 (confirm on FINRA) | ~74 (confirm on FINRA) |
| Order | Taken first | After passing the 86 |
| Exemption | CFA I+II or CMT I+II (on request, with conditions) | None — required for everyone |
| Prerequisites | SIE (co-requisite) + firm sponsorship | |
| Fees | Set per part (~$195 for the 87 per recent sources) — confirm current amounts on FINRA.org | |
Two functions. Information and data collection: macro indicators (GDP, CPI/PPI, monetary policy), industry dynamics (life cycles, supply/demand, competitive structure), SEC filings (10-K, 10-Q, 8-K, proxies), and qualitative assessment of management and governance. Analysis, modeling, and valuation: the core — financial statement analysis and ratios, building forecasts and identifying model drivers, and the valuation toolkit (comparables, DCF, multiples) applied at the depth a working analyst uses daily. Expect real math for 4.5 hours: this is FINRA's most technically demanding representative exam alongside the 79.
Short, and denser than its length suggests. The dominant function (~72% of the exam) covers what a published report must contain and disclose: required disclosures, conflict-of-interest rules, Regulation AC certifications, approvals, and ratings-system requirements. The remainder (~28%) covers dissemination and conduct: quiet periods, public appearances, trading-ahead restrictions, and the recordkeeping around all of it. This is the material that fails experienced analysts — at their firms, compliance owns these rules; on this exam, the analyst does.
FINRA permits candidates who've passed both Level I and Level II of the CFA exam (or both levels of the CMT) to request exemption from the Series 86, on the logic that those curricula already test the analysis at equal or greater depth. Three details matter. First, it's an exemption on request, with conditions — historically tied to CFA Level II recency or continuous research work, and processed through your firm — so confirm your eligibility rather than assuming it. Second, Level I alone exempts nothing. Third, the Series 87 has no exemption path for anyone: charterholders, CMTs, and 20-year veterans all sit the regulatory part. For analysts weighing the two tracks, this exemption is a genuine strategic consideration in the CFA-vs-FINRA planning — two CFA levels can replace the hardest FINRA exam on your path.
FINRA doesn't publish pass rates for either part, and the two fail different people. The 86 fails candidates on depth and endurance — 4.5 hours of applied modeling and valuation where recognizing a concept isn't producing the number. The 87 fails candidates on precision — 50 questions of lookalike disclosure and conflict rules where "our compliance team handles that" has left a knowledge gap the exam is specifically designed to find. The combined path is best treated as two distinct preparations, not one exam with an appendix.
Plan 60–100 hours for the Series 86 (less with recent modeling-heavy coursework or CFA study behind you) and 20–35 focused hours for the Series 87. Firms typically schedule new research hires onto a deadline, so work backward — and if you hold CFA Levels I and II, resolve the exemption question with your registration team before spending an hour on Series 86 prep.
The 86's valuation mechanics and the 87's rule distinctions share a failure mode: passive review builds fluent recognition that collapses under a clock. Retrieval practice — producing the forecast driver, the required disclosure, the quiet-period rule from cold — is what converts familiarity into points, with spaced repetition keeping the 86's breadth alive and immediate correction of misses keeping the 87's near-identical rules distinct.
Trelos is built entirely around those techniques for the Series 86/87: it teaches each concept, drills it the way FINRA words it — from statement analysis and model drivers through Reg AC and quiet periods — and schedules your reviews so both halves stick through their exam days.
Start the Series 86/87 on Trelos — freeNo credit card. Feel the retention engine work in your first session.With the SIE, 86, and 87 complete, your firm finalizes the Research Analyst registration and your name can appear on published research. Analysts moving up commonly add the CFA charter (the field's parallel credential — and if you're sequencing early, remember the Level II exemption cuts the other way too), while those crossing into supervision of research or broader firm functions look at the Series 24.