High-yield Series 31 cheat sheet for the NFA Futures Managed Funds Exam, covering managed-futures market knowledge, regulation, CPO/CTA disclosure, fees, promotional material, and route-fit traps.
Use this Series 31 Cheat Sheet after you already know the route. It is built to keep the exam’s managed-futures emphasis visible under time pressure: market concepts matter because they affect disclosure, customer risk, fees, and promotional material.
Quick links:
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Route | NFA Futures Managed Funds Examination |
| Questions | 45 scored |
| Time | 60 minutes |
| Core emphasis | managed-futures market knowledge, general regulation, CPO/CTA disclosure, and communications |
| Largest block | General Market Knowledge |
| Main trap | treating Series 31 like a shortened Series 3 instead of a managed-futures solicitation and disclosure exam |
| Practice | Series 31 web practice |
| Area | Weight |
|---|---|
| General Market Knowledge | 30% |
| General Regulation | 19% |
| CPO/CTA Regulations | 10% |
| CPO/CTA Disclosure Documents | 17% |
| Customer Information and Risk Disclosure | 4% |
| Upfront Fee Disclosure | 4% |
| Communication with the Public and Promotional Material | 16% |
| If the role sounds most like… | Better route |
|---|---|
| broad futures and options-on-futures solicitation | Series 3 |
| managed-futures funds, commodity pools, and related disclosure | Series 31 |
| branch-manager supervision in a futures business | Series 30 |
| retail off-exchange forex | Series 34 |
Series 31 is narrow, but not easy. It assumes the candidate can connect managed-futures market concepts to customer-facing disclosure, CPO/CTA roles, fee transparency, and promotional-material review.
| Part | Weight | Recall target | Best first question |
|---|---|---|---|
| General Market Knowledge | 30% | disclosure context, margin, mark-to-market, futures, forwards, offsetting, settlement, basis, carry, yield curve, hedging, spreads, price limits, open interest, volatility | How does the concept affect risk, liquidity, performance, or disclosure accuracy? |
| General Regulation | 19% | arbitration, discipline, just and equitable principles, supervision, QEPs, registration, foreign markets, books and records | Does this require formal process, status classification, records, supervision, or escalation? |
| CPO/CTA Regulations | 10% | registration scope, exemptions, reports, records, customer funds, entity-role controls | Who operates the pool, who advises, who handles funds, and what record or report supports it? |
| CPO/CTA Disclosure Documents | 17% | management fees, incentive fees, performance records, trading programs, use periods, conflicts, backgrounds, NFA review, discipline | Is the disclosure current, balanced, reviewed, and consistent with the solicitation? |
| Customer Information and Risk Disclosure | 4% | customer facts, follow-up, risk-disclosure delivery, managed-funds suitability context | Did the customer receive enough meaningful risk explanation before deciding? |
| Upfront Fee Disclosure | 4% | upfront fees, organizational expenses, net-performance effects | Can the customer see the true cost drag before committing? |
| Communications and Promotional Material | 16% | standardized sales presentations, third-party content, reprints, records, procedures, past performance, hypothetical results | Is the material fair, balanced, supervised, supported, and retained? |
| If the stem mentions… | Think first about… |
|---|---|
| margin or mark-to-market | performance-bond margin, daily equity changes, leverage, and margin pressure |
| futures versus forwards | standardization, clearing, liquidity, and bilateral counterparty exposure |
| offsetting or settlement | closing positions, delivery assumptions, and how managed programs exit exposure |
| basis or cost of carry | cash-versus-futures relationship, carry inputs, and basis risk |
| yield curve | rollover effects and pricing relationships |
| hedging or spreads | reduced or changed risk, not risk-free trading |
| price limits | trading constraints and liquidity pressure |
| open interest | market participation context, not a complete trading signal |
| volatility | drawdowns, disclosure, customer expectation, and promotional balance |
The exam trap is studying these as pure market definitions. For Series 31, ask how each concept changes a customer-facing managed-futures explanation.
| If the stem emphasizes… | Stronger focus |
|---|---|
| commodity pool operation | CPO role, pool disclosure, reports, records, and participant-facing information |
| trading advice or managed account strategy | CTA role, advisory disclosure, records, and performance context |
| exemption language | whether the exemption fits the facts rather than being assumed |
| limited partnership structure | whether structure changes, but does not erase, regulatory analysis |
| management or incentive fees | customer net result and fee transparency |
| past performance | records, context, limitations, and whether the presentation misleads |
| conflicts or principal purchases | material relationship disclosure and customer evaluation |
| disciplinary event | whether disclosure and review-before-use controls are triggered |
Disclosure documents are not paperwork decoration. They are the factual base for managed-futures solicitation.
Before managed-futures promotional material is used, ask:
Third-party articles, reprints, and outside performance materials can still mislead customers. The firm is responsible for how it uses the material.
| Stem fact | Stronger response |
|---|---|
| incomplete customer information | follow up before treating the solicitation as complete |
| customer confusion about leverage or volatility | explain risk before proceeding |
| risk disclosure delivered late | treat as a process failure, not a harmless timing issue |
| upfront fees minimized | clarify cost drag and effect on net outcome |
| strong gross performance emphasized | compare gross performance against fees, expenses, and risk |
| customer profile inconsistent with strategy | reassess recommendation context and disclosure quality |
The smaller 4% sections are easy points when the customer-protection logic is clear.
| If the stem shows… | Better first response |
|---|---|
| arbitration claim or award | handle through formal process and preserve records |
| possible misconduct | escalate and document through proper NFA/supervisory channels |
| just and equitable principles issue | focus on fair conduct and supervision, not only technical accuracy |
| QEP or registration fact | classify status before applying the rule |
| foreign-market activity | keep books, records, disclosure, and oversight visible |
| missing records | treat as supervision evidence failure, not clerical inconvenience |
Series 31 does not reward informal fixes for regulated problems. The better answer is usually formal, documented, and customer-protective.
| Drill | Standard |
|---|---|
| Rebuild the weights | Market knowledge 30%, general regulation 19%, CPO/CTA disclosure 17%, communications 16%, CPO/CTA regulation 10%, customer/risk disclosure 4%, upfront fees 4%. |
| Rebuild the route map | Explain why Series 31 is managed-futures focused, not broad Series 3, branch-manager Series 30, or retail forex Series 34. |
| Drill market-to-disclosure links | For every market concept, state how it affects risk, fees, liquidity, performance, or customer explanation. |
| Drill disclosure documents | Practice fees, performance, conflicts, trading-program changes, review before use, and disciplinary disclosure. |
| Drill communications | Practice third-party material, reprints, standardized presentations, past performance, hypothetical results, and recordkeeping. |
A representative uses a third-party article to promote a managed-futures program. The article highlights strong past performance and describes spread trading as lower risk, but it does not discuss fees, drawdowns, basis risk, or the assumptions behind the performance. The representative says no review is needed because the article came from a respected publication. What is the strongest Series 31 response?
A. Permit use because third-party source reputation removes the need for firm review.
B. Permit use if the customer is told that managed futures are not the same as stocks.
C. Require supervisory review, balanced risk and fee context, support for performance claims, and retention before the material is used.
D. Treat the issue only as a market-knowledge problem because spread trading is mentioned.
Correct answer: C. Series 31 treats managed-futures promotional material as a customer-protection issue. Third-party status does not remove the need for review, balanced performance context, fee disclosure, risk explanation, and records.
Use this free guide for review, then Start Series 31 Practice on Finance Prep for timed questions, topic drills, and detailed explanations.