Three Questions for those who taking Exam Series 3 and 7 License

Discussion in 'Professional Trading' started by TradeTune, Jun 16, 2020.

  1. Hi all,

    I would Like to talk to exam, Series 7 for stocks and series 3 for Futures. Considering my case that I would be trading for myself and managing friends and family funds, and have no plan to work in-house with any broker-dealer.
    And it's self achivemnet and helps me better understand instrumment i will be dealing with.

    1- If i am not US citizen and not living in US (not have any US tax ID or social security)
    and not connected to US in any way. Can i apply for these exams if i am living in middle east?

    2-Which are the brokerage that can sponor me, can same brokerage that i have tradig account with them (ex.. IB, tradestation ) sponsor me,what obligations they have toward me and what obligations i have toward them? and how to find a broker that can sponor you? and will they expire and has annual fees ?

    3- I see once you pass these exams, you are regarded as PRO trader and you have to pay everything extra from Data fees to plateforms fees and othe Things. How these expenses can be managed, because they really add up fast if you are with mutiple brokers and trading small account.

    Any other insigh relative to these exams will be highly apprecited also.
     
    Last edited: Jun 16, 2020
  2. if you just want to manage family and friends money, you do not necessarily need to take those exams.
     
  3. Like Trend said, this all depends on your specific situation and the number of people you are managing money for. You should read up on Series 65 and the Registered Investment Advisor requirements as it would appear you're going down the wrong road with Series 7.
     
  4. Isn't series 65 for inside US ? can you confirm ?
     
  5. Firstly,

    You can take the exams whenever you want, you don't need a broker to sponsor you

    However, if you want to be registered as a member after passing your test then you need to be affiliated with a firm. If this is what you mean by sponsored then I don't see why any brokerage would run the compliance risk of having to supervise you if you are not an employee. Furthermore, brokers don't tend to have the staff to monitor investment activity. They are brokers, not investment managers.

    Most importantly, if you are living in the middle east and trading family and friends money in the ME, local jurisdication is what you need to adhere to, not US.

    If you are start actively solicit funds in US then yes you need to register in the US. However, for the NFa, for example, if you have less than 15 accounts and, i think, 4 million, registration with nfa is not an obligation but an option. Also, compliance for small cta's is self imposed. This means there wont be an issue with nfa unless someone raises a complaint. They dont have time to enforce small timers.

    You can always setup a business in the ME and register your entity with finra and nfa, then after you pass the exams, then become an associated person all by yourself. But you'll need to meet compliance guidelines yourself.

    A further point, the exams are an absolute waste of time. The subject matter is primitive and offers no value. None. Just buy some decent finance books for 10 bucks. It is only a requirement if you want to become a broker or if you are looking to raise a certain amount of assets.

    But in your situation, it is a complete waste of time
     
    TradeTune likes this.
  6. great great answers , i shall come up with more specific Qs to ask you soon . Thank you
     
  7. Actually, why are you going to take those exams? there is no need to do so in order to "manage" some accounts. You can contact many props where you can trade without exams, same for brokers.

    Have you asked the broker if they could replicate your account trades on other accounts?. I don´t know how it´s called but that´s the way to "manage" few accounts. Every account at owner´s name, so no problem with security of the funds.

    Don´t know if stock brokers offers so, but in other markets is possible.

    And better to pay nopro datafeed
     
  8. Cert adds to your credential when you want to teach or manage someones money.
    Makes people to have some kind of confidence in you, at least here, i don't know about US.
    it's not about permission to do some activity.
     
  9. NO, not at all. these exams do jack sh!t.
    series 7, firstly, is not about managing money, it's about being a broker, how to execute someone's order and regulations

    series 3, like the 7, is not about managing money but about being a broker. You don't need it in the US if you are under a certain threshold for managed accounts. However, if you want to register with the NFTA as a CTA. Then you have to take it in order to be an associated person with that member firm.

    I don't know about you but I would never give a broker or a compliance manager money to invest. The only things that these exams do to validate you is that you had a background check and didn't have a criminal record at one point.
     
    Last edited: Jun 30, 2020
  10. Gambitman

    Gambitman

    Writing the Series 7 would be a waste of time in your situation. I wrote the 7 back in 2007 when I joined Bright trading as it was a requirement. I can’t think of a single thing that made me a better trading. Think of it as learning the traffic laws of every city in the world somehow making you a great race car driver.
     
    #10     Jul 18, 2020
    nwoptions likes this.