The mandatory certification for distributing Specialized Investment Funds in India. NISM consolidated the older Currency, Interest-Rate, and Equity Derivatives exams into this single Common Derivatives certification. Pass it once — covers everything you need.
Important to know
NISM does not publish a single "Series XIII workbook." Distributors are tested on material from three separate certifications consolidated into one exam:
799 pages total. The good news: chapters 6–10 of all three books are essentially the same content. Smart reading order can save you about 30% of study time. See the study plan.
On completion of NISM Series XIII, the candidate is expected to demonstrate:
Understand the basics of Indian derivatives markets and the role of each market participant.
Apply trading and hedging strategies using futures and options across underlyings.
Operate clearing, settlement, margining, and risk-management mechanisms.
Navigate the regulatory environment for derivatives and Specialized Investment Funds.
PAN required for certificate issuance. Re-attempts permitted after a 7-day cooling period.
Total 150 marks (across the 3 workbooks)
Fast-revision notes complementing the NISM workbooks — learning objectives, key concepts, cheat sheets, and practice questions with explanations. Use these to reinforce after reading a workbook chapter, or as a 10-minute pre-exam refresher.
Introduction to derivatives · History and evolution of derivatives markets · Factors influencing growth of derivatives · History of Indian derivatives market · Derivative products available in India · +4 more
Equity markets and equity indices · Currency markets — INR vs other currencies · Fixed-income securities — government and corporate bonds · Interest rate concepts and yield curves · Return and risk measures for debt — current yield, YTM, duration, PVBP, convexity
Forwards vs futures — standardisation and settlement · Forwards and futures on equities · Payoff charts for futures · Futures pricing — cost of carry, basis · Commodity, equity, and index futures · +4 more
Hedging strategies — long hedge, short hedge · Hedge ratio calculation · Beta hedging of equity portfolios · Cash-and-carry arbitrage · Reverse cash-and-carry arbitrage · +3 more
Call and put options — rights and obligations · Option premium components — intrinsic and time value · Payoff diagrams — long call, short call, long put, short put · Option pricing — Black-Scholes intuition · Implied volatility · +2 more
Single-leg strategies — long/short call/put · Spread strategies — bull spread, bear spread · Volatility strategies — straddle, strangle · Range-bound strategies — butterfly, condor · Protective and covered strategies — protective put, covered call
Trading workflow — order types, lot sizes, market lots · Role of the clearing corporation · Margin types — initial, exposure, MTM, ELM, additional · SPAN methodology · Mark-to-market mechanics · +3 more
SEBI Act 1992 — overview · L C Gupta Committee — index futures launch framework · J R Verma Committee — risk management framework · RBI-SEBI Standing Technical Committee · Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) · +2 more
Tax treatment of F&O — speculative vs non-speculative business income · Securities Transaction Tax (STT) · Capital gains for derivatives — generally not applicable · Audit requirements for F&O traders · Tax framework for SIFs · +1 more
Suitability assessment for derivative products · Risk disclosure obligations · Prohibited practices — front-running, churning, misrepresentation · AMFI Code of Conduct · SCORES (SEBI Complaints Redress System) · +1 more
Anyone selling, recommending, marketing, or advising on Specialized Investment Funds (SIFs) in India — including ARN holders, EUIN holders attached to a firm's ARN, and employees of distribution houses engaged in SIF distribution.
NISM Series XIII consolidates Series I (Currency Derivatives), Series IV (Interest Rate Derivatives), and Series VIII (Equity Derivatives) into a single Common Derivatives certification. A candidate may take Series XIII instead of all three individual exams.
3 years, renewable via NISM's CPE (Continuing Professional Education) programme or by re-attempting the exam.
25% of marks assigned to a question. A wrong answer on a 1-mark question deducts 0.25 marks; on a 2-mark question, 0.5 marks.
Yes — NISM offers remote-proctored mode in addition to test-centre mode. Both have the same fee, syllabus, and certificate value.
Register at certifications.nism.ac.in. You'll need PAN, photo, signature, and the exam fee. After registration you can schedule the exam slot — typically available within 5–7 days.
On passing, your provisional certificate is issued immediately at the test centre or on the portal. The final PAN-linked certificate is dispatched within 30 days to the address on file.
Yes — the chapter content, cheat sheets, and practice questions in the Academy are free for SIFPrime partners. The NISM workbook itself (separate document) is available on the NISM website with login.
Open Chapter 1 — Basics of Derivatives. About 3 hours of study material. By the end, you'll be comfortable with the vocabulary every later chapter assumes.
Start Chapter 1Disclaimer. SIFPrime Academy material is provided for educational purposes for empanelled partners. Exam parameters (fee, duration, syllabus, dates) are subject to change by NISM. Always verify the latest details at nism.ac.in before scheduling. SIFPrime is not affiliated with NISM; this is independent partner education.