Investment Study Guide 2026
Everything you need to pass the Investment exam in one place: the exam format, every topic to study, real practice questions with explanations, flashcards, and full-length practice tests. Free, no sign-up needed.
📋 Investment Exam Format at a Glance
📚 Investment Topics to Study (88)
✍️ Sample Investment Questions & Answers
1. The risk that an investor cannot secure financing at an affordable rate is called ______ risk.
Capital risk is the risk that an investor cannot obtain the funds (capital) needed for an investment at an affordable rate. Business risk relates to operational performance, financial risk to the use of debt, and leverage risk to magnified losses from borrowing — none of which specifically describe the availability and cost of financing.
2. Since 1970, Buffet has served as chairman and main shareholder of __________.
Warren Buffett is widely recognized as the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He transformed this former textile manufacturing company into a diversified holding company, making it the primary vehicle for his investment strategies and wealth accumulation since the 1970s.
3. A common rule of thumb for stock allocation by age is to subtract your age from what number?
Subtracting your age from 100 (or 110) gives a rough percentage to hold in stocks.
4. A mutual fund or ETF that attempts to mimic the performance of a market index is known as an index fund. A low-cost, tax-efficient, and diversified option to invest in equities is through index funds.
This statement is true. An index fund is designed to passively track the performance of a specific market index, such as the S&P 500. By doing so, they typically incur lower management fees due to less active trading, offer inherent diversification across many securities within the index, and often have lower capital gains distributions, making them a cost-effective and tax-efficient investment option.
5. Mutual fund share classes (Class A, Class B, Class C, etc.) differ primarily in that they:
Mutual fund share classes, such as Class A, B, and C, are primarily distinguished by their different fee structures. These variations include sales charges (loads), annual operating expenses (12b-1 fees), and redemption fees, which can significantly impact an investor's overall return. While the underlying investments of the fund are generally the same, the costs associated with each class differ.
6. What does 'beta' measure in portfolio analysis?
Beta measures how much a security's price moves relative to the market; a beta greater than 1 indicates higher volatility than the market, while less than 1 indicates lower volatility.