A part of a newer, introductory level FINRA license, the Securities Industry Essentials (SIE) Exam serves to ensure that individuals have a fundamental understanding of securities topics. The exam is divided into multiple choice and experimental sections, covering topics that are essential to working within the industry and furthering your career. For many, this exam will be one of their first hurdles on their path to their professional career goals.

But with a newer exam, where do you even begin to study? We’ve got you covered there:

We’ll be discussing the fundamental information needed in order for you to know who the big players are in the SIE study materials space. We’ll also become better acquainted with the prep courses surrounding these top providers.

Looking through our findings we’ll not only break down who these providers are, but also what makes their services stand out and what types of learners they’ll most likely appeal to.

Let’s get to it– the sooner you make a selection the sooner you can get to studying!

Best SIE Exam Study Materials

  1. Securities Institute of America
  2. Surgent SIE Review
  3. Securities Training Corporation
  4. Achievable Test Prep
  5. Kaplan SIE Exam Prep
  6. ExamFX Review
  7. Knopman Marks Financial Training


1. Securities Institute of America

Securities Institute of America covers all of the sections on the SIE Exam (as well as content for other FINRA exams) and employs a proven method to help students obtain higher test results. Lessons are segmented into shorter sections to allow for a greater number of opportunities to test your knowledge. By breaking the lessons into smaller chunks and quizzing you more frequently, you’re more actively able to retain information and better recall key facts.

The good news is that you can feel safe here as well. Securities Institute of America understands that their students will do better when learning with top tier content. For that reason, they’ve included video lessons shot with state of the art technology and featuring actual industry professionals and instructors.

The course also has complete coverage of fundamental topics like economics, corporate fundamentals, equity and debt securities, and much more. 

In addition to providing useful information, this SIE study guide aims to keep you on track as they progress. You’ll be provided with access to a Performance Dashboard including key metrics and progress indicators. Additionally, you’ll have a personalized study calendar for scheduling out your agenda as you work through more than 35 hours of online video lectures.

Are you someone that loves to thoroughly study every subject on an exam? Securities Institute of America has a lot for you to love:

Enrolling in their SIE exam study materials will grant you access to additional review tools like a complete question bank, simulated final exams, and an SIE Test Bank. The best part is that they’re all included and will be updated at no additional cost— right up until you pass your exam! As if that wasn’t already a great deal, Securities Institute of America offers their course bundle for less than $200 total, even if you were to select the print/physical textbook option.

Securities Institute SIE Pros and Cons

  • Video Instruction: Once you sign up for this online review course, you get access to a library of in-depth video lectures covering all the subjects on the SIE exam. With over 12 hours of content in total, that’s more than enough to get you up to speed on all the relevant securities industry topics! 
  • Choose Your Practice Method: There are 15 different ways you can customize Securities Institute of America’s SIE practice exams. These include separating each exam by specific subjects — which is a great way to quickly eliminate any knowledge gaps — or making fully randomized exam simulations that provide an accurate depiction of the real thing.
  • Mobile Friendly: Although there is no dedicated mobile app for this FINRA review course, you’re able to easily access all of their online study materials through your tablet or smartphone’s browser— as long as it’s a newer model. Additionally, you get a physical textbook with 400 pages of study material that you can easily take with you for on-the-go studying.

  • A Little Excessive: Since the SIE exam only has 75 questions, practicing for this exam by answering 1,000 practice questions may seem like overpreparing. Because of this, you can probably stop long before answering every single practice question included with this course and still earn a passing grade on the actual exam.

Bottom Line: We came away from Securities Institute of America more than thoroughly impressed. Their offerings, while very fairly priced, are so comprehensive that it almost feels like you enrolled in an insanely discounted college course. Their online platform benefits greatly from expertise— which is thankfully passed on to their students.