Series XXI-BNew
Portfolio Managers
50 questionsPass mark 60%Negative marking 25% / wrong answer
Exam preparation
NISM Series XXI-B: Portfolio Managers
The portfolio managers paper: how stocks, bonds, derivatives and mutual funds work, what a portfolio manager does and how the business runs, building a portfolio from risk and return, managing equity and bond portfolios, measuring performance, rebalancing, tax, and the rules and ethics for portfolio managers.
Questions1201 or 2 marks each
Duration180 min3 hours
Pass mark60%90 of 150 marks
Negative marking25%0.25 or 0.5 marks off per wrong answer
NISM Series XXI-B Portfolio Managers
Exam rules read on NISM's site on 30 October 2026. Check the current rules on NISM's site (opens in a new tab)
The NISM-Series-XXI-B: Portfolio Managers Certification Examination is 120 questions worth 150 marks in 180 minutes, and 60% is the pass mark. A wrong answer costs 0.25 or 0.5 marks and a blank costs nothing, so the two are not the same choice. The certificate is valid 3 years from the date of the examination. Every figure here was read from NISM's own published pages on 30 October 2026.
What the Series XXI-B certification is for
The portfolio managers paper: how stocks, bonds, derivatives and mutual funds work, what a portfolio manager does and how the business runs, building a portfolio from risk and return, managing equity and bond portfolios, measuring performance, rebalancing, tax, and the rules and ethics for portfolio managers.
Who takes it
Principal officers and other employees of portfolio management firms. Students, professionals and anyone else interested can also take it.
Why it is on this site
The paper about running a client's portfolio. Its return, risk and drawdown measures are the same ones the site's lessons and calculators work through.
Exam format at a glance
Questions1201 or 2 marks each
Total marks15090 × 1 + 30 × 2
Duration180 min3 hours
Pass mark60%90 of 150 marks
Negative marking25%0.25 or 0.5 marks off per wrong answer
Certificate validity3 yearsfrom the date of the examination
120 questions in 180 minutes, worth 150 marks: 90 single questions of 1 mark and 6 case studies of 5 questions each at 2 marks a question. 60% (90 marks) to pass. A wrong answer loses 25% of that question's marks.
The examination fee is deliberately not printed here. NISM publishes it per certification and revises it from time to time, and a fee is the one figure on a page like this that somebody acts on with money — read the current one on nism.ac.in.
How the marking works — and what the quiz here does with it
Each question carries 1 or 2 marks, so the paper is scored out of 150 and 90 marks are needed to pass. A wrong answer deducts 25% of the marks assigned to the question — 0.25 or 0.5 marks here. A question left unanswered scores nothing and deducts nothing, so a wrong answer and a blank are not equivalent, and deciding between them is part of what the paper tests.
The practice quiz here uses these same figures. Timed practice applies this pass mark and this deduction. Its clock runs at this paper's pace (180 minutes for 120 questions), scaled to the size of your set.
Syllabus units, and what each is worth
21 practice topics, in the order our questions are written. Each row links to the topic's full questions and answers. Each answer explains why the other options are wrong. No unit weightage was found in the official exam material, so this table has no marks column.
Test yourself on this syllabus
It is marked with the pass mark and negative marking shown above.
150 Series XXI-B practice questions
Answer one at a time and see the reason straight away. Or sit a timed set marked like this paper: 0.25 or 0.5 marks off for a wrong answer, 60% to pass.
Start practising →NISM Series XXI-B mock tests
Three fixed papers of 50 questions each, timed at this exam's pace, with its pass mark and negative marking. When you submit, you see your score and why each answer is right.
Take a mock test →Every series' practice set
The other certifications we hold questions for, each scored on its own published pass mark and marking rule — which are not the same as this paper's.
Browse every series →Which NISM exam applies to you
Which series fits your work, with the lessons and tools for each one.
Open the certification hub →The other certifications on this site
- Series VIII — Equity Derivatives
- Series V-A — Mutual Fund Distributors
- Series XV — Research Analyst
- Series VII — Securities Operations and Risk Management
- Series I — Currency Derivatives
- Series X-A — Investment Adviser (Level 1)
- Series IV — Interest Rate Derivatives
- Series VI — Depository Operations
- Series XVI — Commodity Derivatives
- Series XXI-A — Portfolio Management Services (PMS) Distributors
- Series XII — Securities Markets Foundation
- Series XIII — Common Derivatives
- Series III-A — Securities Intermediaries Compliance (Non-Fund)
- Series IX — Merchant Banking
- Series V-D — Mutual Fund - Specialized Investment Fund Distributors
- Series XIX-A — Alternative Investment Funds (Category I and II) Distributors
- Series II-B — Registrars to an Issue and Share Transfer Agents - Mutual Fund
- Series II-A — Registrars to an Issue and Share Transfer Agents - Corporate
Sources & review date. The question count, total marks, duration, pass mark, negative marking and certificate validity above come from NISM's own pages for the NISM-Series-XXI-B: Portfolio Managers Certification Examination, last read on 30 October 2026. Marks per question, marks needed to pass and marks lost per wrong answer are worked out from those figures. We found no published marks for each unit of this exam, so none are shown here. Other weightage tables are estimates. The unit headings follow the order of these practice questions. Compare them with NISM's published unit list.
NISM Series XXI-B: common questions
How many questions are in the NISM Series XXI-B exam?
The NISM-Series-XXI-B: Portfolio Managers Certification Examination has 120 questions worth 150 marks in total, to be completed in 180 minutes (3 hours).
What is the passing score for NISM Series XXI-B?
60%, which on a 150-mark paper means 90 marks, calculated after negative marking has been applied to wrong answers. Checked against NISM's own published page for this examination on 30 October 2026.
Is there negative marking in NISM Series XXI-B?
Yes — 25% of the marks assigned to a question. Each question here carries 1 or 2 marks, so a wrong answer costs 0.25 or 0.5 marks. A question left unanswered neither earns nor deducts anything, so a wrong answer and a blank are not the same thing.
How long is the NISM Series XXI-B certificate valid?
3 years from the date of the examination. NISM also runs a Continuing Professional Education programme for its certifications. Confirm the current revalidation route on nism.ac.in before your certificate expires.
Are the practice questions on this page from the NISM Series XXI-B exam?
No. LearnNifty wrote all 150 of them from NISM's public syllabus for this certification. NISM does not publish its question bank. The questions help you practise the syllabus. They cannot predict the paper.
What does the NISM Series XXI-B syllabus cover?
Our practice questions for this certification are sorted into 21 topics: Investment Landscape and Required Return, Introduction to Securities Markets and Participants, Investing in Stocks and Equity Research, Investing in Fixed Income Securities and Bond Valuation, Derivatives in Portfolio Management, Mutual Fund, Role of Portfolio Managers in India, Operational Aspects of Portfolio Managers (Onboarding and Fees), Portfolio Management Process and Asset Allocation, Taxation, Regulatory, Governance and Ethical Aspects of Portfolio Managers, Introduction to Indices, Concept of Informational Efficiency, Behavioral Finance, Introduction to Modern Portfolio Theory, Introduction to Capital Market Theory, Risk, Equity Portfolio Management Strategies, Fixed Income Portfolio Management Strategies, Performance measurement and evaluation of Portfolio Managers, Portfolio Rebalancing. That is the structure the practice set follows. NISM publishes its own curriculum and test objectives for the examination on nism.ac.in, and the workbook current for your sitting is the only examinable material.
Where does LearnNifty get these NISM Series XXI-B exam figures from?
The question count, time, pass mark, negative marking and certificate validity come from NISM's own exam pages, last read on 30 October 2026. The quiz here marks with the same figures. NISM changes them from time to time, so confirm them on nism.ac.in before you register.
Is a calculator allowed in the NISM Series XXI-B exam?
At a test centre, yes. NISM's candidate rules let you bring your own calculator. It must be silent and must not connect to any computer. In a remote proctored exam you cannot use your own calculator. The screen gives you a scientific calculator instead. Check NISM's candidate rules on nism.ac.in before exam day.
Sit a Series XXI-B paper marked on the figures above
Series XXI-B questions written against the published syllabus and scored under this paper’s own rules — 60% to pass, 0.25 or 0.5 marks off for a wrong answer. Practice mode explains every option as you go. Timed practice hides answers until you submit.
Open the Series XXI-B practice questionsPaper Trading Try it on the practice trading desk