NISM Series XXI-B Previous Year Papers
No official past paper exists for Series XXI-B. The published format and the 21-chapter curriculum give you what one would have.
NISM does not publish previous year papers for Series XXI-B, the Portfolio Managers Certification Examination. It publishes none for any series. The exam runs on demand all year at test centres, and each candidate gets a paper drawn from a question bank NISM calls confidential. So a file titled as the 2024 or 2025 Series XXI-B paper is not an official document.
What NISM does publish is enough to build your own: the paper's structure, a 21-chapter curriculum with lettered sub-topics, and a free workbook with chapter-end sample questions. This page lays out what the paper looks like, what each chapter group asks, and how to practise against it.
About the PDFs that claim to be real papers
Files sold or shared as leaked or memory-based Series XXI-B papers are recollections at best, with no answer key you can trust. Do not pay for one, and do not use one as your only check on readiness.
What the Series XXI-B paper looks like
Every fact below is from NISM's exam page. A past paper would add only question wording.
| Item | Series XXI-B |
|---|---|
| Part one | 90 multiple-choice questions, 1 mark each, 90 marks |
| Part two | 6 case-based questions, each a case with 5 questions of 2 marks, 60 marks |
| Total marks | 150 |
| Duration | 3 hours |
| Pass mark | 90 out of 150 (60%) |
| Wrong answer | 25% of the question's marks deducted: 0.25 on a 1-mark MCQ, 0.5 on a 2-mark case question |
| Where | NISM test centre, date and slot of your choice |
| Syllabus | 21 chapters on NISM's curriculum page |
The question each chapter group produces
NISM publishes no chapter weightage, so ignore any site that prints one. What you can predict is the shape of the question, from the lettered sub-topics on the curriculum page.
I to VI: markets, stocks, fixed income, derivatives, mutual funds
What the question looks like
Definitions and small sums: bond price and duration, a futures or options payoff, NAV and expense ratio
Where candidates slip
Treating these as revision and skipping bond volatility
VII to VIII: role and operations of portfolio managers
What the question looks like
A rule or process step: who may invest in PMS, onboarding disclosures, grievance redressal, how fees are charged
Where candidates slip
Answering from how your own firm works, not the regulation
IX to XI: process, taxation, regulation and ethics
What the question looks like
Strategic versus tactical allocation, tax on each income stream, PMLA, insider trading rules, the investor charter
Where candidates slip
Mixing up which regulation a duty sits under
XII to XVII: market efficiency, behavioural finance, portfolio and capital market theory, risk
What the question looks like
Theory applied to numbers: two-security portfolio variance, capital market line versus security market line, CAPM, naming a bias
Where candidates slip
Confusing the two lines; mixing systematic with non-systematic risk
XVIII to XXI: strategies, performance measurement, rebalancing
What the question looks like
Pick the strategy from a description (core and satellite, constant mix, CPPI), or compute a risk-adjusted return and read attribution
Where candidates slip
Knowing the formula but not which measure the question wants
| Chapters | What the question looks like | Where candidates slip |
|---|---|---|
| I to VI: markets, stocks, fixed income, derivatives, mutual funds | Definitions and small sums: bond price and duration, a futures or options payoff, NAV and expense ratio | Treating these as revision and skipping bond volatility |
| VII to VIII: role and operations of portfolio managers | A rule or process step: who may invest in PMS, onboarding disclosures, grievance redressal, how fees are charged | Answering from how your own firm works, not the regulation |
| IX to XI: process, taxation, regulation and ethics | Strategic versus tactical allocation, tax on each income stream, PMLA, insider trading rules, the investor charter | Mixing up which regulation a duty sits under |
| XII to XVII: market efficiency, behavioural finance, portfolio and capital market theory, risk | Theory applied to numbers: two-security portfolio variance, capital market line versus security market line, CAPM, naming a bias | Confusing the two lines; mixing systematic with non-systematic risk |
| XVIII to XXI: strategies, performance measurement, rebalancing | Pick the strategy from a description (core and satellite, constant mix, CPPI), or compute a risk-adjusted return and read attribution | Knowing the formula but not which measure the question wants |
Free account, this exam preselected.
How NISM Series XXI-B tests this material
The case-based part is the first trap. Each case gives a client, a portfolio or a firm situation and asks five linked questions. A misread costs more than one question, and each wrong answer there costs 0.5 marks, not 0.25. Read the case twice before the first question.
The second trap is the theory block, chapters XII to XXI: a portfolio variance, a Sharpe ratio, a CAPM required return. Expect wrong options built from common slips: a sign error, or standard deviation used in place of variance. Work every workbook example on paper before reading its solution.
The third trap is the negative mark across a long paper. Four failed MCQ guesses cost a full mark; two on case questions cost one too. Guess only after ruling out an option.
How to practise without past papers
A past paper gives format, style and a score. You can build all three.
- 1
Turn the curriculum into a question list
Write one question for every lettered sub-topic on NISM's curriculum page. Chapter XVIII alone gives you fourteen.
- 2
Use the workbook's own questions first
NISM's FAQ for this series points candidates to the workbook's chapter-end sample questions and worked examples. Do every one before touching third-party sets.
- 3
Write your own cases
For chapters VII to XI and XVIII to XXI, take a sub-topic and write a short client situation with five questions on it. Writing one shows you what a case can ask.
- 4
Sit timed sets scored at the real penalty
A practice set is useful only if it runs 3 hours with 90 one-mark questions and 6 cases, scored at 0.25 off a wrong MCQ and 0.5 off a wrong case answer. Aim for a margin above 90 marks; a test-centre paper feels harder than one at your desk.
- 5
Fix the chapter, not the question
Group wrong answers by chapter. Two or more misses in one chapter means re-reading it, not memorising the missed questions.
Checking a third-party question set
Compare a set's stated format with the table above. A set built for 100 one-mark questions with 0.10 negative marking was written for Series XXI-A and skips the theory and case chapters. NISM's own FAQ page still describes an older structure; trust the exam page.
FAQs
Where can I download NISM Series XXI-B previous year question papers?expand_more
Nowhere official. NISM does not release past papers or answer keys for any certification. Files offered online under that name are recollections or third-party sets, not NISM documents.
Does NISM repeat questions in the Portfolio Managers exam?expand_more
Each paper is drawn from a question bank, so two candidates on the same day can see different questions. Topics repeat; wording does not.
Is the NISM PMS exam difficult?expand_more
Series XXI-B is one of the longer NISM papers: 150 marks in 3 hours, 21 chapters, six case-based questions. The difficulty is the theory block, chapters XII to XXI, which asks for calculations rather than recall. NISM publishes no pass rate.
What is the difference between the NISM 21A and 21B papers?expand_more
Series XXI-A is for PMS distributors: 100 one-mark MCQs, 2 hours, 0.10 off per wrong answer. Series XXI-B is for principal officers and other employees of PMS firms: 90 MCQs plus 6 case-based questions for 150 marks, 3 hours, 25% of a question's marks off per wrong answer, and a syllabus that adds portfolio theory and performance measurement.
Can I take the NISM Series XXI-B exam from home?expand_more
No. NISM lists Series XXI-B as a test-centre exam, not a remote-proctored one. You book a centre, date and slot; there is no fixed exam date.
Next steps
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