If you're a mutual fund distributor planning to offer Specialized Investment Fund (SIF) products, there's good news.

NISM has introduced a brand-new certification exam called NISM Series V-D: Mutual Fund – Specialized Investment Fund Distributors Certification Examination. The biggest advantage? You no longer have to clear the more difficult NISM Series XIII (Common Derivatives Certification) just to distribute SIF products.

The announcement was made on 14 July 2026, and registrations will begin on 22 July 2026. For thousands of Mutual Fund Distributors (MFDs), this removes one of the biggest roadblocks to entering the growing SIF market.

In this guide, we'll explain what the new NISM V-D exam is, what it covers, who needs it, the syllabus, fees, passing marks, and why this change matters for India's mutual fund industry.

Complete Detail of NISM V-D Exam

One welcome change is the lower negative marking. The earlier NISM Series XIII exam deducted 25% of the marks for every wrong answer, making candidates extremely cautious when attempting questions.

Series V-D reduces this penalty to 10%, allowing candidates to attempt questions with greater confidence.

Who Should Take the NISM V-D Exam?

The NISM V-D certification is intended for professionals involved in selling or distributing Specialized Investment Funds. This includes:

• Individual Mutual Fund Distributors (MFDs)
• Employees of ARN-holder distribution firms
• Brokers and agents involved in SIF distribution
• AMC sales and distribution professionals handling SIF products

If you only distribute regular mutual funds and have no plans to sell SIF products, your existing NISM Series V-A certification remains sufficient.

NISM V-D Exam Syllabus Weightage

The exam is divided into three modules.

Nearly half of the exam focuses on mutual fund distribution, making it much more familiar for candidates who have already passed NISM Series V-A.

Syllabus of the NISM V-D Exam

Module 1: Mutual Fund Distributors.

INVESTMENT LANDSCAPE

• Investors and their Financial Goal.
• Savings and Investment.
• Different Asset Classes.
• Investment Risks.
• Risk Measure and Management Strategies.
• Behavioral Biases in Investment Decision Making.
• Risk Profiling.
• Understanding Asset Allocation.
• Do-it-yourself versus Taking Professional Help.

I: CONCEPT AND ROLE OF A MUTUAL FUND

• Concept of a Mutual fund.
• Classification of Mutual Funds.
• Growth of the mutual fund industry in India.

II: LEGAL STRUCTURE OF MUTUAL FUNDS IN INDIA

• Structure of Mutual Funds in India.
• Key Constituents of a Mutual Fund.
• Organization Structure of Asset Management Company.
• Role and Support function of Service Providers.
• Role and Function of AMFI.

III: LEGAL AND REGULATORY FRAMEWORK

• Role of Regulators in India.
• Role of Securities and Exchange Board of India.
• Due Diligence Process by AMCs for Distributors of Mutual Funds.
• Investor Grievance Redressal Standards.
• AMFI Code of Conduct for Intermediaries of Mutual Funds.

IV: SCHEME RELATED INFORMATION

• Mandatory Documents.
• Non-Mandatory Disclosures.

V: FUND DISTRIBUTION AND CHANNEL MANAGEMENT PRACTICES

• The role and importance of mutual fund distributors.
• Different kinds of mutual fund distributors.
• Modes of distribution.
• Pre-requisites to become Distributor of a Mutual Fund.
• Revenue for a mutual fund distributor.
• Commission Disclosure mandated by SEBI.
• Due Diligence Process by AMCs for Distributors of Mutual Funds.
• Difference between distributors and Investment Advisors.
• Nomination facilities to Agents/Distributors and Payment of Commission to Nominee.
• Change of distributor.

VI: NET ASSET VALUE, TOTAL EXPENSE RATIO AND PRICING OF UNITS

• Fair Valuation Principles.
• Computation of Net Assets of Mutual Fund Scheme and NAV.
• Dividends & Distributable Reserves.
• Concept of Entry and Exit Load and its impact on NAV.
• Key Accounting and Reporting Requirements.
• NAV, Total expense ratio and pricing of units for the Segregated Portfolio.

VII: TAXATION

• Applicability of taxes in respect of mutual funds.
• Capital Gains.
• Dividend income.
• Stamp Duty on Mutual Fund Units.
• Setting off of Capital Gains and Losses under Income Tax Act.
• Securities Transaction Tax.
• Tax benefit under Section 80C of the Income Tax Act.
• Tax Deducted at Source.
• Applicability of GST.

IX: INVESTOR SERVICES

• The NFO process.
• New Fund Offer Price/On-going Offer Price for subscription.
• Investment Plans and Services.
• Allotment of Units to the Investor.
• Account statements for investments.
• Mutual Fund Investors.
• Filling the Application Form for Mutual Funds.
• Financial Transactions with Mutual Funds.
• Cut-off Time and Time Stamping.
• KYC Requirements for Mutual Fund Investors.
• Systematic Transactions.
• Operational aspects of Systematic Transactions.
• Non-Financial Transactions in Mutual Funds.
• Change in Status of Special Investor Categories.
• Investor transactions – turnaround times.

X: RISK, RETURN AND PERFORMANCE OF FUNDS

• General and Specific Risk Factors.
• Factors that affect mutual fund performance.
• Drivers of Returns and Risk in a Scheme.
• Measures of Returns.
• SEBI Norms regarding Representation of Returns by Mutual Funds in India.
• Risks in fund investing with a focus on investors.
• Measures of Risk.
• Certain Provisions with respect to Credit risk.

X: MUTUAL FUND SCHEME PERFORMANCE

• Benchmarks and Performance.
• Price Return Index or Total Return Index.
• Basis of Choosing an appropriate performance benchmark.
• Benchmarks for equity schemes.
• Benchmarks for Debt Schemes.
• Benchmarks for Other Schemes.
• Quantitative Measures of Fund Manager Performance.
• Tracking Error.
• Scheme Performance Disclosure.

XI: MUTUAL FUND SCHEME SELECTION

• Scheme Selection based on Investor needs, preference and risk-profile.
• Risk levels in mutual fund schemes.
• Scheme Selection based on investment strategy of mutual funds.
• Selection of Mutual Fund scheme offered by different AMCs or within the scheme category.
• Selecting options in mutual fund schemes.
• Do’s and Don’ts while selecting mutual fund schemes.

Module 2: Equity Derivatives

XIII: BASICS OF DERIVATIVES

• Understanding Derivatives.
• Financial derivatives and factors influencing the growth of derivatives markets globally.
• Derivative Products in India.
• Market participants and their roles.
• OTC versus exchange traded markets.
• Importance of derivatives and the key risks faced by market participants.

XIV: UNDERSTANDING INDEX

• Index and its economic purpose.
• Types of Indices and their computation.
• Index Construction and Impact Cost.
• Index Construction, Maintenance, and Revision.
• Equity indices in India.
• Applications of indices.

XV: INTRODUCTION TO EQUITY FUTURES AND FORWARDS

• Forward Contracts: Features and Drawbacks.
• Futures contract: Features and Drawbacks.
• Contract specification of Exchange Traded Equity Futures.
• Futures Contract Terminology.
• Advantages and Disadvantages of forwards and futures.
• Long–Short Futures Payoffs.
• Cost-of-carry model and Expectations model for futures pricing.
• Cash–Futures Price Convergence.
• Uses/Applications of equity futures.

XVI: INTRODUCTION TO EQUITY OPTIONS

• Option Contracts and Terminology.
• Contract specifications of Exchange Traded Equity Options contracts.
• Option Moneyness: ITM, ATM, OTM.
• Intrinsic value and Time value of Options.
• Payoff diagrams of call and put options.
• Futures versus Options Contracts.
• Option Pricing, Determinants and Greeks.
• Option Pricing Models Overview.
• Implied volatility and its significance.
• Call and Put Option Profitability.

XVII: STRATEGIES USING EQUITY FUTURES AND EQUITY OPTIONS

• Strategies for hedging, trading and arbitrage using equity futures.
• Option Trading Strategies.
• Put-Call Parity and Synthetic Option Strategies.
• Delta-hedging.
• Trading Strategies Using Open Interest, Volume, Futures Price and Put-Call Ratio.

Module 3: Interest Rate Derivatives

XVIII: INTRODUCTION TO INTEREST RATE, INTEREST RATE INSTRUMENTS AND FIXED INCOME MARKET

• Interest Rate.
• Understanding Fixed Income Securities.
• Bond Classification by Criteria.
• Equity versus Debt securities.
• Risk-free Interest Rate.
• Term Structure of Interest Rates.
• Interest Rate Conversion Methods.
• Accrued Interest.
• Spot Rate (or zero rate) and Holding Period Return.
• Coupon, Current yield, Yield-to-maturity.
• Cash flow, Yield and Price of Bonds.
• Macaulay Duration, Modified Duration, Rupee Duration, Price value of a basis point (PVBP) and Convexity.
• Debt Markets: Role and Economic Development.
• Primary and Secondary Markets for Debt Securities in India.

XIX: INTEREST RATE DERIVATIVES

• Derivatives and Its Economic Role.
• Forwards, Futures, Options and Swaps.
• Factors driving the growth of financial derivatives.
• Interest Rate Derivatives Market Players.
• Interest Rate Derivatives and Bond Derivatives.
• Over-The-Counter (OTC) versus Exchange Traded Derivatives.

XX: EXCHANGE TRADED INTEREST RATE FUTURES

• Interest Rate Futures (IRF).
• Pay-Off Diagram of Futures.
• Interest Rate Futures Contract Specifications.
• Tick size and its relation to the minimum change in the contract value.
• Rationale for Interest Rate Derivatives.
• Advantages and Limitations of Futures Contracts.
• Interest Rate Futures Price.

XXI: EXCHANGE TRADED INTEREST RATE OPTIONS

• Options Contracts.
• Futures versus Options Contracts.
• European versus American options.
• Option Moneyness: ITM, ATM, OTM.
• Option Pricing Factors and Greeks.
• Models for Options Pricing.
• Implied Volatility.
• Payoff Diagrams of Put Options and Call Options.
• Contract Specifications for Interest Rate Options Contracts.
• Advantages and Limitations of Exchange Traded Options Contracts.

XXII: STRATEGIES USING EXCHANGE TRADED INTEREST RATE FUTURES AND OPTIONS

• Hedgers, Speculators and Arbitrageurs in Interest Rate Derivatives Markets.
• Interest Rate Derivatives for Hedging.
• Option Trading Strategies and their Payoff Diagrams.
• Interest Rate Derivatives for speculative transactions (trading).
• Interest Rate Derivatives Arbitrage Trades.
• Spread and Spread Trading.
• Limitations of Interest Rate Derivatives for Hedgers.

Why Did NISM Launch the Series V-D Exam?

The introduction of Specialized Investment Funds (SIFs) created an entirely new investment category in India. Launched under SEBI's regulatory framework in February 2025, SIFs are designed to bridge the gap between traditional mutual funds and Portfolio Management Services (PMS).

Unlike PMS, which typically requires a minimum investment of ₹50 lakh, SIFs are accessible with investments starting from ₹10 lakh. They also allow fund houses to run more concentrated and flexible investment strategies than regular mutual funds.

While the product was welcomed by investors, there was one major challenge for distributors. To sell SIF products, distributors were required to clear NISM Series XIII, an exam originally designed for professionals dealing in equity, currency, and interest-rate derivatives.

For most mutual fund distributors, this didn't make much sense. Many experienced MFDs already understood mutual funds inside out, but they still had to study topics like currency derivatives, which have very little relevance to selling mutual fund products.

As a result, many distributors simply chose not to enter the SIF segment. Recognizing this issue, NISM introduced Series V-D, a certification specifically designed for mutual fund professionals.

What Makes NISM Series V-D Different?

Instead of focusing heavily on derivatives trading, the new exam builds upon the knowledge that mutual fund distributors already have.

The syllabus combines:

• Core mutual fund distribution concepts
• Basic equity derivatives
• Interest rate derivatives
• SIF-related knowledge

Most importantly, currency derivatives have been removed.

This makes the exam much more practical for professionals working in the mutual fund industry.

Do You Still Need NISM Series XIII?

For new distributors entering the SIF space, NISM Series V-D is expected to become the standard certification.

However, if you've already cleared NISM Series XIII certification, NISM has not yet issued detailed transition guidelines explaining whether additional action will be required.

It's a good idea to keep an eye on future NISM circulars for any clarification regarding existing certificate holders.

Why This Change Is Important?

The launch of NISM Series V-D isn't just another certification update. It removes one of the biggest barriers preventing mutual fund distributors from offering SIF products.

The demand for Specialized Investment Funds has grown rapidly since their introduction. By June 2026, SIF assets under management had crossed ₹17,858 crore, while monthly inflows increased sharply during the same period.

Yet many distributors stayed away simply because the required certification felt unnecessarily difficult and unrelated to their daily work.

The new exam aligns much better with what mutual fund professionals actually do. Instead of spending weeks learning currency derivatives, distributors can now focus on subjects directly connected to mutual fund investing and SIF distribution.

For the industry, this could encourage more MFDs to expand their offerings and help investors gain easier access to specialized investment strategies.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q. When will registration for NISM Series V-D begin?

Registration opens on 22 July 2026 through the NISM certification portal.

Q. What is the fee for the exam?

The examination fee is ₹3,000 plus applicable taxes.

Q. How many questions are there?

The exam contains 150 multiple-choice questions, each carrying one mark.

Q. What is the passing score?

Candidates must score 90 out of 150 marks, which equals 60%.

Q. Is there negative marking?

Yes, every incorrect answer attracts 10% negative marking, which is significantly lower than the previous Series XIII exam.

Q. Does the syllabus include currency derivatives?

No, unlike NISM Series XIII, the new Series V-D exam does not include currency derivatives. It focuses only on equity derivatives, interest rate derivatives, and mutual fund distribution.

Q. Is NISM Series V-D mandatory for SIF distribution?

For new distributors planning to sell Specialized Investment Funds, Series V-D is expected to become the primary certification requirement. Existing Series XIII certificate holders should wait for further guidance from NISM regarding transition rules.

Final Thoughts

NISM Series V-D is a welcome step for India's mutual fund distribution ecosystem. Rather than asking distributors to master topics that have little relevance to their work, the new certification focuses on practical knowledge required for selling Specialized Investment Funds.

If you're already a mutual fund distributor and want to expand your business into SIFs, this exam offers a much more relevant and approachable pathway.

Once you're certified and begin distributing SIF products, using a platform like ZFunds can help you manage SIF investments alongside your regular mutual fund portfolio from a single dashboard, making day-to-day operations far more efficient.