How to become a financial adviser in Singapore

To become a financial adviser in Singapore, you join a licensed or exempt financial adviser firm, meet MAS's entry rules, pass the CMFAS papers for the products you'll handle, and let the firm notify MAS. Your name then appears on MAS's public register of representatives. You never apply to MAS for a licence yourself.

The firm holds the licence, you hold an appointment

When a name card says "financial adviser", the person holding it is nearly always a representative, because the licence (or the exemption from needing one) belongs to the company they work for, whether that's an advisory firm, an insurer or a bank. You act on the company's behalf as its appointed representative.

That shapes every step after. The firm checks you against MAS's standards and lodges the paperwork, and it stays answerable to MAS for what you do. So the real first step is an offer from a firm. It's usual to book your papers after you've signed on, since the firm knows which papers the role needs and often registers recruits through its corporate account.

The path, step by step

Step 1: meet the entry rules

MAS Notice FAA-N26 sets two minimums. You must be 21 or older. And you need a full A Level certificate (three H2 passes and two H1 passes), an IB Diploma, a diploma from a Singapore polytechnic, or a qualification MAS treats as equivalent.

The notice asks for nothing beyond those two: no degree, and no years of work experience before your first appointment. If your qualification is from overseas, MAS's FAQ on the notice explains how equivalence is judged, and your firm's compliance team makes the call.

Step 2: pass the fit and proper check

MAS's Guidelines on Fit and Proper Criteria (FSG-G01) name three tests: honesty, integrity and reputation; competence and capability; and financial soundness. Your firm applies them before it appoints you, then certifies to MAS that you pass.

Expect a declaration form. The guidelines list what MAS weighs, including criminal convictions or pending charges, past disciplinary action by a regulator or professional body, and bankruptcy. Failing one test doesn't mean an automatic no, because MAS weighs how serious the matter was against its relevance to the job and the time that has passed since. Giving false or misleading information is on the list too, so declare everything.

Firms can set the bar higher than MAS does. MAS's FAQ says it encourages them to, and some firms ask recruits to pass extra CMFAS modules even where MAS would grant an exemption.

Step 3: sit the CMFAS papers for your role

Every financial adviser representative needs RES 5, plus the product papers for what they'll advise on. For the roles most recruits start in, that works out like this:

• If you'll advise on or arrange life insurance, including investment-linked policies, you need RES 5, M9 and M9A. MAS's FAQ on FAA-N26 says so directly, and only people who meet the criteria in the notice's Annex B are exempt from M9A.
• If those life policies carry accident and health benefits, FAA-N26 points you to MAS Notice 117, which requires the HI paper as well.
• If you'll advise on unit trusts, you need RES 5 with M8 and M8A.
• If you'll sell general insurance, you start with BCP, then take PGI for personal lines or ComGI for commercial lines.

You can take a product pair as one combined paper: CM-LIP covers M9 and M9A, and CM-CIS covers M8 and M8A. MAS counts a combined pass as meeting the single-paper requirement. Our papers by role page sets out the full list in one table.

All of these are multiple choice on a computer screen at SCI, and the result appears when you click Finish. RES 5 is the heavy one: 150 questions in 3 hours, with separate pass marks of 75% for Part I and 80% for Part II, both needed in the same sitting.

Don't pass RES 5 years before you join a firm. If three years go by without you starting as a representative, MAS's FAQ says you resit RES 5 before you begin. The product papers carry over, apart from M8A or M9A if you'll advise on specified investment products.

Step 4: your firm notifies MAS

Once you've passed, the firm lodges Form 3A, its notice of intent to appoint you, through MAS's CoRe system. In the same lodgement it certifies that you're fit and proper.

The record grows with you. If you later pass M8 and M8A to add unit trusts, the firm lodges Form 6 to add that activity to your appointment.

Step 5: your name goes on the public register

MAS keeps a public register of representatives, called the Financial Institution Representatives Register. It shows your status and the types of financial advisory service you may provide. Anyone can search it by your name or representative number, and careful clients do.

Treat that listing as your start line. It's how a client, a compliance officer or MAS checks what you're allowed to do.

How long the whole thing takes

No rule sets a timeline, and the firm's own onboarding varies, so ask your manager how long their lodgement usually takes. The papers are the part you control.

If your firm wants you selling life and health cover, that's four papers: RES 5, M9, M9A and HI. RES 5 has 27 chapters, M9 has 17, HI has 15 and M9A has 6. At 12 to 15 hours a week, plan about four weeks for RES 5, three to four for M9 and about three each for M9A and HI, roughly 14 weeks in all. That's our estimate from the size of each paper, not an SCI or MAS figure, and our guide on how long to study for CMFAS shows the working. SCI runs these papers every weekday, so you can book each one as soon as you're ready rather than waiting for an exam season.

After you're appointed: CPD every year

FAA-N26 makes you keep training. From the first full calendar year after your first appointment, you complete:

Your firm uses these hours when it rechecks that you're still fit and proper. Passing papers counts for something too: SCI credits 3 CPD hours for a RES 5 pass.

Where the career goes from there

Most growth comes from adding products. Pass M8 and M8A and your firm can add unit trusts to your record. Pass BCP and PGI or ComGI and you can handle general insurance.

Further qualifications are optional. SCI runs the Chartered Financial Consultant/Singapore (ChFC/S) programme and a Diploma in Personal Financial Planning, which its exam rules list alongside the CMFAS papers, though you don't need either one to be appointed.

Where to start

RES 5 is the paper nearly every recruit sits, and its 80% bar on Part II is the one people trip on. Our RES 5 study plan breaks its 27 chapters into weeks, and the RES 5 page shows what our practice covers. When you're ready, start RES 5 as a single paper for full timed mocks and an explanation on every answer.

Sources

• MAS, Notice FAA-N26 on competency requirements for representatives of financial advisers, read 11 October 2026
• MAS, FAQs on the competency requirements for representatives of financial advisers, read 11 October 2026
• MAS, Guidelines on Fit and Proper Criteria (FSG-G01), read 11 October 2026
• MAS, FAQs on the Financial Advisers Act, representative notification framework, read 11 October 2026
• MAS, Form 3A notification for appointment of an appointed representative, read 11 October 2026
• MAS, Form 6 notification to add activities of a representative, read 11 October 2026
• MAS, Financial Institution Representatives Register, read 11 October 2026
• SCI, RES5 exam details, read 11 October 2026
• SCI, examination rules and regulations, read 11 October 2026