HS 300 study guide
HS 300 · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
HS 300 is a professional certification exam for people working in or moving into securities and wealth-management roles, particularly in the Chinese-speaking market. It tests whether a candidate can connect product knowledge to regulation and to real client situations, rather than recite isolated facts. The HS 300 study guide has 5 sections and about 2,098 words.
01Market and Product Knowledge
The Market and Product Knowledge domain tests whether you can explain what a client actually owns, how it is priced, what it costs, and where it can lose money. Questions rarely ask for definitions alone; they put a product into a scenario and ask which risk, cost or valuation feature drives the outcome.
428 words, about 2 min02Regulatory Environment and Compliance
The Regulatory Environment and Compliance domain tests whether you know who may do what, what must be disclosed, and how client money and orders must be handled. The names of statutes differ by market; the exam tests the underlying rules, so learn the principle and be able to apply it to a scenario.
433 words, about 2 min03Client Analysis and Suitability
The Client Analysis and Suitability domain tests whether you can build a defensible picture of a client and match a recommendation to it. Examiners present a fact pattern with a conflict - an aggressive questionnaire score and a two-year horizon, say - and expect you to resolve it and record the reasoning.
447 words, about 2 min04Investment Advice and Portfolio Construction
The Investment Advice and Portfolio Construction domain tests whether you can translate a suitability decision into a portfolio, and defend the allocation, implementation and monitoring choices. Questions probe diversification, correlation, rebalancing mechanics, benchmark selection and the effect of costs and tax.
391 words, about 2 min05Professional Ethics and Conduct
The Professional Ethics and Conduct domain tests judgement, not recall. Scenarios put you under commercial pressure - a sales target, a generous gift, a client who wants to skip a step, a colleague behaving badly - and ask what a competent, honest professional does.
399 words, about 2 min