Study the Series 63 rules that distinguish state and federal investment-adviser regulation, contracts, custody, and adviser privacy obligations.
Although Series 63 is a broker-dealer agent exam, it still tests adviser regulation because agents must understand the boundary between brokerage and advice. NASAA wants candidates to know when adviser registration rules apply, how state and federal jurisdiction differ, and what core adviser controls matter under state law.
Read this chapter as a line-drawing chapter. The central question is not whether the candidate wants to become an adviser. It is whether the activity in the fact pattern is drifting into adviser territory and what regulatory consequences follow.