M9A exam 2026: how to pass the derivatives paper
CMFAS M9A is 50 questions in 1 hour with a 70% pass mark. Why M9 habits fail on derivatives, the chapters that decide it, the CM-LIP risk and a 3-week plan.
To pass M9A, you need 35 right out of 50 multiple-choice questions in 1 hour, a 70% pass mark. Its 6 chapters are about structured products and derivatives, so the work is less about recalling rules and more about following how a payoff is built. If you passed M9 by memorising and expect M9A to feel the same, that's where marks go.
The M9A exam at a glance
M9A is Life Insurance and Investment-Linked Policies II. SCI runs it for representatives who advise on or arrange investment-linked policies (ILPs), under MAS Notice FAA-N26.
| What | Detail |
|---|---|
| Questions | 50 multiple choice |
| Time | 60 minutes, so just over a minute per question |
| Pass mark | 70%: 35 correct, 15 wrong at most |
| Chapters | 6 |
| Calculator | Bring your own from SCI's approved list |
| Result | Shown at the end of the sitting; SCI issues a slip, no certificate |
Each question is worth 2%. Fifteen wrong sounds like room until you see how few chapters share the paper: one weak chapter can use up the whole margin. Guessing is free: a blank and a wrong answer both score zero, with no deduction.
A pass is worth 1 CPD hour, and there's no cap on resits. If your company is an SCI or IBF member, M9A costs S$109.00 on a weekday before 5pm and S$127.53 in the evening or at the weekend. Without membership, it's S$130.80 or S$149.33. Our M9A format and pass mark guide has the detail.
The six chapters
| Chapter | Topic | What it asks of you |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Introduction to structured products | How they're built, and what's protected |
| 2 | Risk considerations of structured products | Which risk a feature creates |
| 3 | Understanding derivatives | Payoffs, rights and obligations |
| 4 | Introduction to structured ILPs | How an ILP wraps a structured product |
| 5 | Portfolio of investments with an insurance | Where the product fits a client |
| 6 | Case studies | Reading a product and judging suitability |
Chapters 3 and 6 decide most results. The first is the hardest to understand, and the second is the slowest to answer.
Why M9 study habits fail here
M9 rewards recall. You learn a rule, you spot it in an option, you move on. M9A asks you to work out what happens when a price moves, using numbers you haven't seen before.
Take a call option with a strike of 50. If the share closes at 58, the call is 8 in the money, and the buyer exercises. If it closes at 46, the call expires worthless, and the buyer loses only the premium they paid. The seller sits on the other side of both outcomes: they keep the premium, and they must deliver if the buyer exercises.
There's no fact to recall in that. You follow the logic or you guess. If you've only read chapter 3 and never worked a payoff, the paper finds out quickly.
The topics that decide your result
Derivatives
Know the four main types: forwards, futures, options and swaps. Then nail the difference between a right and an obligation. An option buyer has a choice. An option seller has a duty if the buyer uses that choice. Mixing them up is the error questions are built to catch.
Get moneyness automatic too. In the money, at the money and out of the money should come without a pause, for calls and for puts.
Structured products
These wrap a derivative inside a deposit or a note: equity-linked notes, dual currency investments, reverse convertibles. A typical question gives you the strike, where the price finished and the settlement terms, then asks what the investor receives, and whether it's cash or shares.
The answer usually flips on one comparison: did the price finish above or below the strike? Read the settlement terms before you touch the calculator.
Case studies
Chapter 6 is built entirely around cases. You get a product summary or a client's situation and judge the risk and the fit. Practise pulling the strike, any knock-in barrier and the level of capital protection out of a product summary fast. Under time pressure, that extraction is where people stall.
A three-week M9A study plan
Six chapters fit into three focused weeks.
Week 1: chapters 1, 2 and 5
Learn how structured products are built, the risks they carry and where they sit in a portfolio. One idea to lock in early: which products protect the principal and which don't. Most later questions assume you know.
Week 2: chapters 3 and 4
This is where marks are won, so give it the most time. Draw the payoff for buying a call, selling a call, buying a put and selling a put, by hand, until the shapes come without thinking. Then work through how a structured ILP holds one of these products inside the policy.
Week 3: chapter 6, then full mocks
Do case questions under a timer: read the product, pull out the numbers, decide on the fit, then check your reasoning against the explanation. Finish with two full mocks of 50 questions on the 1-hour clock.
Practise by chapter first
M9A is lopsided. The case studies in chapter 6 have little in common with chapter 1, so a full mock spends half your time on chapters you already own. If your risk questions are solid and your cases keep slipping, drill chapter 6 alone until it improves, then go back to full mocks.
Our M9A sample questions are a quick way to see which chapter is weakest before you plan your weeks.
CM-LIP: where M9A sinks M9
The combined CM-LIP paper runs 3 hours and you need 70% in each part, M9 and M9A alike. M9 has 17 chapters and M9A has 6, so people pour their time into M9. Then they score well on M9, miss on the smaller M9A part, and fail the whole sitting.
If derivatives are solid, the combined paper saves a trip. If they're not, sit M9A separately so a pass in M9 can't be dragged down with it. Not sure which to book first? Read which of M9 and M9A to sit first.
Practise M9A against the clock
Our M9A bank gives you timed mocks of 50 questions in 1 hour, practice on each of the 6 chapters on its own, and a worked explanation for every option. When a mock ends, the results name up to three chapters that came in under the pass mark. The retest mode then serves only the questions you missed. The M9A paper page shows a sample question, and you can buy M9A on its own for a month of practice.
Sources
- SCI, M9A exam details, fees and calculator policy, read 11 October 2026
- SCI, CM-LIP exam details, read 11 October 2026
- MAS, Notice FAA-N26 on competency requirements for representatives of financial advisers, read 11 October 2026
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Frequently asked questions
It often feels harder, because it tests a different skill. M9 rewards recall of rules, while M9A asks you to follow how a payoff works and apply it to numbers you haven't seen.
Enough that you'll want your calculator. Payoff questions give you a strike, where the price finished and the settlement terms, then ask what the investor receives.
Chapter 6 is built entirely around cases. You get a product summary or a client's situation and judge the risk and the fit, so pulling the strike, any knock-in barrier and the capital protection out quickly matters.
70%, which is 35 of the 50 questions. You have 1 hour, and a wrong answer costs nothing extra.
Only if your derivatives are solid. CM-LIP needs 70% in each part in one sitting, so a weak M9A part fails the whole sitting, including a strong M9 part.
