Series XXI-BNew
Portfolio Managers
50 questionsPass mark 60%Negative marking 25% / wrong answer
NISM Series XXI-B practice questions
150 questions. Each answer is explained.
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Learn these topics
Practise one unit at a time
- Investment Landscape and Required Return4 questions
- Introduction to Securities Markets and Participants3 questions
- Investing in Stocks and Equity Research7 questions
- Investing in Fixed Income Securities and Bond Valuation6 questions
- Derivatives in Portfolio Management6 questions
- Mutual Fund6 questions
- Role of Portfolio Managers in India8 questions
- Operational Aspects of Portfolio Managers (Onboarding and Fees)8 questions
- Portfolio Management Process and Asset Allocation8 questions
- Taxation6 questions
- Regulatory, Governance and Ethical Aspects of Portfolio Managers8 questions
- Introduction to Indices6 questions
- Concept of Informational Efficiency6 questions
- Behavioral Finance6 questions
- Introduction to Modern Portfolio Theory6 questions
- Introduction to Capital Market Theory6 questions
- Risk8 questions
- Equity Portfolio Management Strategies14 questions
- Fixed Income Portfolio Management Strategies14 questions
- Performance measurement and evaluation of Portfolio Managers8 questions
- Portfolio Rebalancing6 questions
Exam format
| Questions | 120 · 1 or 2 marks each |
|---|---|
| Duration | 180 min · 3 hours |
| Pass mark | 60% · 90 of 150 marks |
| Negative marking | 25% · 0.25 or 0.5 marks off per wrong answer |
| Certificate validity | 3 years · from the date of the examination |
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)
What these answers assume, and when it was last checked
Each question uses the rules listed below. We last checked them on 5 September 2026. A Budget or SEBI circular can change a rate, lot size or expiry day. If a rule changes before your exam, treat the linked questions as out of date and check NISM's current workbook.
- NSE uses Tuesday expiry and BSE uses Thursday expiry. This applies from 1 September 2025.
- The January 2026 index lot sizes are NIFTY 65, BANKNIFTY 30, FINNIFTY 60, MIDCPNIFTY 120 and NIFTYNXT50 25.
- The October 2024 SEBI framework sets a minimum index contract value of Rs 15–20 lakh. Each exchange may list one weekly benchmark index.
- Option buyers pay the premium upfront from 1 February 2025. A short index option has an extra 2% Extreme Loss Margin on expiry day from 20 November 2024.
- Equity short-term capital gains are taxed at 20%. Long-term gains are taxed at 12.5% above Rs 1.25 lakh. Both rates apply from 23 July 2024.
- F&O income is non-speculative business income in ITR-3. NSE equity derivatives trade from 9:15 a.m. to 3:40 p.m.
- The final ten-minute session began on 3 August 2026. It aligns with the cash market Closing Auction Session.
- Most Securities Transaction Tax questions test the base and who pays. On an option sale, it is the premium and the seller pays. On a futures sale, it is the traded value and the seller pays.
- On exercise, Securities Transaction Tax uses intrinsic value: settlement price minus strike price. The buyer pays it.
- Two questions test the current rate. From 1 April 2026, option sales carry 0.15% on the premium and futures sales carry 0.05% on traded price. The earlier rates were 0.10% and 0.02% from 1 October 2024.
- This section uses the T+1 rolling settlement cycle. Obligations are fixed on T+1. A short delivery goes to buy-in auction on T+1 and settles on T+2.
- The trade-for-trade surveillance segment uses direct close-out. Funds pay in by 10:30 a.m. and pay out on or after 1:30 p.m. on settlement day.
- Securities pay in to the settlement pool by 10:30 a.m. They pay out directly to the client’s demat account by 3:30 p.m.
- The 3:30 p.m. deadline replaced 1:30 p.m. under SEBI’s 10 October 2024 circular. Direct client credit was required by SEBI’s 5 June 2024 circular.
- The optional T+0 cycle trades until 1:30 p.m. Obligations are fixed by 2:30 p.m. on the trade day. An early pay-in shortage is closed out directly.
- Cash-market Value at Risk margin is six times exponentially weighted moving-average volatility. It has a 9% floor for Group I, a 21.5% floor for Group II, and a fixed 50% or 75% level for Group III.
- Extreme Loss Margin is 3.5% for a share and 2% for a broad-market-index exchange traded fund. Mark-to-market margin is collected before the next day’s trading. The trade-for-trade segment has 100% upfront margin.
- Close-out uses the higher of the highest price from trade day to auction day and 20% above the auction day’s official close.
- A funds shortage costs 0.07% a day. The trading facility is withdrawn at a shortage of Rs 5 lakh or more.
- SCORES allows 21 calendar days, then two 15-day review levels. Online Dispute Resolution moves from conciliation to arbitration after the market participant and SCORES steps.
- At NSE, the Investor Protection Fund limit is Rs 35 lakh per investor for each defaulting or expelled member. This applies to claims arising after 13 August 2024.
- A Basic Services Demat Account has no annual maintenance charge up to Rs 4 lakh of holdings. It costs up to Rs 100 above that, until the Rs 10 lakh eligibility ceiling. These slabs apply from 1 September 2024.
- The rupee pairs are USD-INR, EUR-INR, GBP-INR and JPY-INR. The cross-currency pairs are EUR-USD, GBP-USD and USD-JPY.
- Each contract covers 1,000 units of the foreign currency, except JPY-INR. JPY-INR covers 100,000 yen and is quoted in rupees per 100 yen.
- The tick is 0.25 paise, or Rs 0.0025. It equals Rs 2.50 a contract.
- Rupee pairs trade from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. A monthly contract stops trading at 12:30 p.m. two working days before the expiry month’s last business day.
- Final settlement is in cash at the FBIL reference rate on expiry day. FBIL, Financial Benchmarks India, has published this rate in place of the Reserve Bank since 2018. Premium-style European options are quoted in rupees. The buyer pays the premium in cash on T+1.
- Daily settlement is on T+1 and final settlement is on T+2.
- NSE Clearing circular 026/2020 sets SPAN margin plus Extreme Loss Margin. The futures margin is 0.50% for USD-INR, 0.15% for EUR-INR, 0.25% for GBP-INR and 0.35% for JPY-INR. A short option has 0.75%. These figures apply from 1 June 2020.
- A USD-INR client may hold 6% of total open interest or USD 20 million, whichever is higher. A trading member may hold 15% or USD 100 million.
- A resident user has one USD 100 million equivalent limit across all rupee pairs and exchanges. No document is needed below that limit, but a valid underlying contracted exposure must still exist. This clarification applies from 3 May 2024.
- The currency segment has no Securities Transaction Tax.
The exam figures (questions, time, pass mark, negative marking and certificate validity) come from NISM's own pages, read on 30 October 2026. Timed practice uses the same figures. Study with the official workbook as well.
The written-out answers on this page are hidden while your timed set runs.
5 sample questions with answers
The other 145 are on the unit pages above, written out the same way.
Q1An investment earns 10% while prices rise 5% over the year. What is its exact real return, approximately?
Option A. 5.00%
Why it is wrong: Subtracting inflation gives an approximation rather than the exact real return.
Option B. 4.76% — Correct answer
Option C. 15.00%
Why it is wrong: Adding inflation does not measure the gain in purchasing power.
Option D. 9.52%
Why it is wrong: Dividing the nominal return by the inflation factor omits the correct growth-factor comparison.
Answer: B. The real return is approximately 4.76% because purchasing power grows more slowly than the money value. Real return = (1 + nominal return) ÷ (1 + inflation) − 1. Working: 1.10 ÷ 1.05 − 1 = 0.047619, or 4.76%. Remember: Use growth factors when calculating an exact inflation-adjusted return.
Hint, shown before you answer in practice mode: Compare the growth in money with the growth in prices. Common mistake: Using subtraction when the question asks for the exact real return.
XXI-B-003mediumnumerical
Q2A hypothetical 100-unit futures contract is sold at 24,500 and bought back at 24,300. What is the gross trading result?
Option A. ₹20,000 profit — Correct answer
Option B. ₹200 profit
Why it is wrong: This uses the price change but omits the 100-unit contract multiplier.
Option C. ₹2,00,000 profit
Why it is wrong: This overstates the contract multiplier by a factor of ten.
Option D. ₹20,000 loss
Why it is wrong: A fall in the futures price benefits the short position.
Answer: A. The short futures position earns ₹20,000 because the buyback price is lower. Price gain = 24,500 − 24,300 = 200 points. Gross profit = 200 × 100 = ₹20,000. Remember: Futures profit depends on direction, price movement and the contract multiplier.
Hint, shown before you answer in practice mode: Check the position’s direction before applying the stated multiplier. Common mistake: Using the long-position sign for a contract sold first.
XXI-B-024mediumnumerical
Q3The client’s ₹100 lakh includes a ₹20 lakh near-term reserve. The remaining retirement pool has a 60% equity and 40% bond target. What is the target equity amount?
Option A. ₹60 lakh
Why it is wrong: This applies the equity weight to the full ₹100 lakh rather than the retirement pool.
Option B. ₹36 lakh
Why it is wrong: This subtracts the reserve after applying a different allocation basis.
Option C. ₹32 lakh
Why it is wrong: This is the 40% bond allocation within the retirement pool.
Option D. ₹48 lakh — Correct answer
Answer: D. The equity target is ₹48 lakh because 60% applies to the ₹80 lakh retirement pool. Retirement pool = ₹100 lakh − ₹20 lakh = ₹80 lakh. Equity target = 0.60 × ₹80 lakh = ₹48 lakh. Remember: A target weight must be applied to its defined portfolio base.
Hint, shown before you answer in practice mode: Identify the portfolio to which the policy percentage applies. Common mistake: Using total wealth when a policy weight applies to only one goal-based pool.
XXI-B-053mediumapplication
Q4Which improvement primarily concerns operational efficiency rather than the information reflected in market prices?
Option A. Prices responding immediately to a material public disclosure
Why it is wrong: That concerns adjustment to information rather than processing cost.
Option B. Executing and settling trades at lower processing cost — Correct answer
Option C. Historical prices losing predictive power for excess returns
Why it is wrong: That concerns the weak-form information-efficiency hypothesis.
Option D. Public earnings news being incorporated more quickly
Why it is wrong: Faster incorporation of information primarily concerns informational efficiency.
Answer: B. Lower processing costs concern operational efficiency because they improve the mechanics of trading and settlement. Informational efficiency concerns how information is reflected in prices. Remember: Low transaction friction and informative prices are different dimensions of market quality.
Hint, shown before you answer in practice mode: Separate the cost of operating a market from what its prices know. Common mistake: Assuming an inexpensive trading system must also produce fully informative prices.
XXI-B-080mediumconceptual
Q5The same portfolio must pay ₹30 lakh immediately. Only ₹10 lakh is available in immediately usable cash, and no other proceeds can arrive in time. What is the immediate cash shortfall?
Option A. ₹40 lakh
Why it is wrong: Adding available cash to the obligation does not calculate the shortfall.
Option B. ₹20 lakh — Correct answer
Option C. ₹30 lakh
Why it is wrong: This ignores the ₹10 lakh already available to meet the payment.
Option D. ₹10 lakh
Why it is wrong: This is available cash rather than the unmet payment amount.
Answer: B. The immediate shortfall is ₹20 lakh because only ₹10 lakh is available for a ₹30 lakh payment. Working: ₹30 lakh − ₹10 lakh = ₹20 lakh. Remember: Portfolio wealth and cash available by a payment deadline are different things.
Hint, shown before you answer in practice mode: Compare cash available by the deadline with cash due by that deadline. Common mistake: Assuming assets can always be sold and settled before an immediate payment.
XXI-B-105mediumapplication
NISM Series XXI-B practice: common questions
Are these the real NISM Series XXI-B exam questions?
No. LearnNifty wrote every question from NISM's public syllabus. NISM does not publish its question bank, so nobody can offer you the real paper. Use these questions to check that an idea has gone in. Use the official NISM workbook to see what is examined.
How many practice questions are there for NISM Series XXI-B?
150 at the moment, across 21 practice topics, with one page per unit. It is a practice set, not a copy of the paper: the real NISM-Series-XXI-B: Portfolio Managers Certification Examination has 120 questions.
Where are all the questions and answers?
On the 21 practice topics listed above. There are 5 in full. Each unit's page has the rest, with all four options, the correct answer and why each other option is wrong.
Does negative marking apply to NISM Series XXI-B?
Yes. NISM takes off 25% of a question's marks for a wrong answer. On a 1 or 2-mark question that is 0.25 or 0.5 marks off. A blank question earns nothing and loses nothing, so a wrong guess costs marks on this paper. Timed practice here uses the same rule.
How do I book the NISM Series XXI-B exam?
You register and pay on NISM's own website, nism.ac.in. The steps and the fee change from time to time, so read them there on the day you book.
Are these practice questions kept up to date?
Each question is written against the rules printed on this page, last checked on 5 September 2026. A Budget or a SEBI circular can change a rate, a lot size or an expiry day. If one of those rules changes before your exam, treat the questions that use it as out of date. Then check NISM's current workbook.
See the exam these questions follow
The Portfolio Managers exam page shows the question count, the time, the pass mark and the marking rule.
Open the NISM Series XXI-B exam pagePaper Trading Try it on the practice trading desk