SAC General Business Evaluation study guide
SAC General Business Evaluation · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The SAC General Business Evaluation is a knowledge assessment used in the securities industry to test whether a candidate understands the core business of a brokerage or securities firm, not just a single product line. It suits candidates moving into generalist compliance, operations, client-facing support, or supervisory roles where they must reason across markets, products, accounts, and conduct rules at once. The SAC General Business Evaluation study guide has 8 sections and about 3,637 words.
01Regulatory Framework and Securities Market Structure
This domain tests who regulates China's securities market, how an offering gets to market, and how the trading venues differ in the parameters that show up in calculation questions. Most items hinge on one distinction: review by an exchange versus registration by the CSRC, and the board-specific numbers that follow from where a stock lists.
478 words, about 2 min02Client Onboarding, Suitability, and Account Types
This domain tests how a client legally enters the market and how the firm proves the product fits. Expect items on real-name account opening, the account types and their thresholds, the ordinary-versus-professional investor divide, and the paperwork a firm must complete before selling something risky.
496 words, about 2 min03Equity and Fixed Income Products
This domain tests the instruments themselves: what a share or bond actually entitles you to, how values are computed, and what happens on the ex-rights date or at bond conversion. Numeric items cluster around ex-rights pricing, convertible-bond conversion value, and duration-based price sensitivity.
483 words, about 2 min04Packaged Products: Mutual Funds, ETFs, and Insurance-Based Products
This domain tests collective investment vehicles: how public and private funds differ, how fees are charged, how ETFs create and redeem, what public REITs must hold and distribute, and how insurance-wrapped products shift risk to the policyholder. Fee arithmetic and premium/discount questions appear frequently.
483 words, about 2 min05Options, Derivatives, and Alternative Investments
This domain tests instruments whose value is derived from something else: exchange-traded options, index and treasury futures, and alternative vehicles. Expect payoff arithmetic for covered calls and protective puts, option contract specifications, and futures margin logic.
415 words, about 2 min06Order Handling, Trade Execution, and Settlement
This domain tests the mechanics of getting a trade done: session times, order types, priority rules, lot and tick constraints, and the cost and settlement conventions. Calculation items on total transaction cost are common, as are questions on what a firm owes a client when an order goes wrong.
407 words, about 2 min07Anti-Money Laundering, Fraud, and Ethical Conduct
This domain tests the controls that keep dirty money and dishonest conduct out of the market: customer due diligence, beneficial ownership, reporting obligations, and the specific statutory offences a registered representative can commit. Items are often scenario-based - you are shown behaviour and asked to name the violation.
426 words, about 2 min08Retirement Plans, Tax-Advantaged Accounts, and Estate Basics
This domain tests the tax and retirement wrapper around a portfolio: China's three-pillar pension system, the personal pension account, how investment income is taxed, and the succession rules that determine who inherits an account. Dividend-tax arithmetic and the succession order are the most testable specifics.
449 words, about 2 min