CMFAS M9A Exam: Format, Pass Mark & Fee

CMFAS M9A is 50 multiple-choice questions in 1 hour, and you need 70% (35 correct) to pass. It is SCI's paper on structured products and structured investment-linked policies (ILPs), held daily on weekdays. As at 1 Nov 2026 it costs S$130.80 for a daytime sitting at the non-member rate. You need it, with RES5 and M9, to advise on or arrange life policies (MAS Notice FAA-N26, Table 1).

Its full name is Life Insurance and Investment-Linked Policies II. It is the second half of the life insurance pair, so read the M9 exam guide too.

M9A exam format at a glance

What M9A tests: the 6 chapters

• Chapter 1: Introduction to structured products
• Chapter 2: Risk considerations of structured products
• Chapter 3: Understanding derivatives
• Chapter 4: Introduction to structured ILPs
• Chapter 5: Portfolio of investments with an insurance element
• Chapter 6: Case studies

SCI's stated aim is suitability: whether you can judge a structured product's features, risks and behaviour in different markets against a client's needs. Expect questions that describe a product and ask what happens to the investor, not just definitions.

You study from SCI's eBook. SCI no longer issues printed study texts and records changes in the Version Control Record at the back of the eBook, so check you have the current version before you start.

Where candidates lose marks

• Capital protection. A "protected" structure still depends on the issuer being able to pay. Questions test who carries that risk.
• Derivative payoffs. Long versus short, call versus put. Draw the payoff before you pick an option.
• Early exit. What happens if the investor surrenders or redeems before maturity, and what that costs.
• Case studies. Several questions hang off one client scenario, so misreading the client costs more than one mark.

Pass rate

SCI does not publish an M9A pass rate, and neither do we. Any figure you see quoted elsewhere is a guess. What is known is the margin: 15 wrong answers out of 50. Aim to score 80% or more in timed practice before you book.

See how much has stuck: sit the free CMFAS mock exam, 5 questions with no sign-up. Or see the passes for the full question bank.

Fee, booking and rescheduling

• The fee includes a non-refundable registration fee of S$21.80.
• A re-sit costs the full fee again. SCI has charged first-timers and re-takers the same since 1 April 2024. There is no limit on attempts.
• No cancellations or refunds once you have paid.
• Rescheduling 7 or more working days before the paper is free the first time, then S$32.70 per change. Between 7 and 2 working days before, each change is S$32.70. Within 2 working days, no change.
• The member rate needs a member company: you register through its corporate account, or with your company email and its UEN.
• SkillsFuture Credit cannot be used for CMFAS exams.

Booking is online on SCI's website, by Visa or Mastercard for individual registrations. Every SCI module's fee is in CMFAS exam fees.

Exemptions from M9A

Exemptions are set by MAS, not SCI. Under FAA-N26 Annex B, Table B-1, you do not need to pass M9A if you hold any of these:

• a degree in finance, financial engineering or computational finance
• a degree in actuarial science or insurance
• the CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) from the CFA Institute

FAA-N26 paragraph 4.6 adds a condition for people who rely on the exemption from the minimum academic qualification: the M9A exemption only holds while they have not stopped advising for more than a year in a row. Your firm's compliance team confirms whether an exemption applies to you. There is no exemption from CM-LIP.

Does an M9A pass expire?

FAA-N26's three-year rule (paragraph 4.15) is written for RES5: the pass lapses if you do not start as an appointed representative within three years, or stop for more than three years. The notice has no matching rule for a pass in M9A itself. Its lapse rules for product modules (paragraphs 4.20 to 4.22) cover deemed passes and people relying on the academic qualification exemption. If either applies to you, ask your compliance team.

M9 + M9A or CM-LIP?

CM-LIP covers the M9 and M9A syllabus in one paper, and FAA-N26 Table 2 accepts it instead of the pair. The exam time is the same either way. The differences:

For most candidates the separate papers are the better booking: cheaper, more sitting dates, and a slip on one paper does not fail the other. CM-LIP suits someone who wants one exam day and is ready on both halves at once.

Study plan and practice

M9A is short, so it rewards drilling. Read each chapter in the eBook, then practise that chapter until you score 80% or better, and finish with timed 50-question mocks. Sit it soon after M9 while the ILP chapters are fresh; which CMFAS exam to sit first covers the full order. The M9A study plan sets out a day-by-day schedule through the syllabus.

Start with the free M9A mock exam, or see M9A practice questions and mock papers. One CMFASPrep pass covers M9A along with RES5, M9, HI and every other module.