KYC and the major suitability standards that govern Series 6 recommendations.
Suitability is one of the highest-value concepts on Series 6 because it connects product knowledge to customer facts. Knowing features, risks, fees, and tax consequences does not help much if you cannot decide whether the product fits the investor’s time horizon, liquidity needs, objectives, and tolerance for risk.
This section should be studied as a matching process. The exam often gives you enough facts to eliminate answers that might be acceptable for some investor but not for the investor in front of you. The strongest answer is usually the one that shows the representative considered the customer first and the product second.
| Customer factor | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Time horizon | Helps separate long-term variable products from shorter-term needs |
| Risk tolerance | Filters out products whose volatility or guarantees do not fit |
| Liquidity needs | Rules out products with surrender charges or limited access |
| Tax situation and account type | Can change whether a product’s features are useful or redundant |
| Investment objective | Keeps growth, income, preservation, and tax planning from getting mixed up |
If you remember one idea from this section, make it this: the exam rewards representative judgment that starts with the customer profile, not with the product the rep wants to sell.