NISM Essentials / Series VIII

NISM Series VIII

Equity Derivatives, learned the lean way.

₹499₹69929% off

NISM Series VIII is built for approved users and sales personnel of trading members in the equity derivatives segment. It covers equity derivatives basics, indices, forwards, futures, options, trading strategies, clearing, settlement, risk management, regulations, accounting, taxation and investor protection. Essentials turns the full syllabus into mapped notes, practice questions and mocks, so you can prepare without the clutter.

300+ questions

Practice across derivatives basics, futures, options, strategies, trading, clearing and regulation.

5 mocks

Three to clear and two bonus, built around the exam rhythm.

10 chapters mapped

The full Equity Derivatives syllabus organised by chapter and weightage.

Self-paced

Built for busy schedules, with focused prep for futures, options and risk management.

Why NISM Essentials

Lean prep for equity derivatives

Built for the exam, focused on concepts, payoffs, strategies and market operations.

300+ questions

Chapter-wise practice questions to reinforce formulas, payoff charts and concepts as you learn them.

5 mocks

Five full-length mocks, three to clear and two bonus, so the real exam feels familiar.

Payoff-first

Designed around futures, options, strategies, pricing, clearing, margins and risk management.

Time-smart

Trimmed to exactly what you need, so you spend less time searching and more time preparing.

The syllabus

Every chapter, mapped to the exam

Open a chapter to see what it covers and what you should be able to do by the end.

01Basics of Derivatives10%
What it covers
Basics of derivatives
Derivatives market history and evolution
Indian derivatives market
Market participants: hedgers, speculators and arbitrageurs
Types of derivatives markets
Significance of derivatives
Risks faced by participants in derivatives
By the end

Understand what derivatives are, why they exist, who uses them and the major risks involved.

02Understanding Index5%
What it covers
Introduction to an index
Significance of the stock index
Types of stock market indices
Attributes of an index
Index management and maintenance
Major indices in India
Applications of indices
By the end

Understand how market indices are built, maintained and used in derivatives and portfolio benchmarking.

03Introduction to Forwards and Futures20%
What it covers
Introduction to forward contracts
Futures contracts
Contract specifications of futures contracts
Important futures terminology
Differences between forwards and futures
Payoff charts for futures contracts
Futures pricing
Price discovery and convergence on expiry
Uses of futures
By the end

Build command over futures contracts, pricing, payoff logic and practical uses for hedging, speculation and arbitrage.

04Introduction to Options20%
What it covers
Basics of options
Contract specifications of exchange-traded options
Moneyness of an option
Intrinsic value and time value
Payoff charts for options
Distinction between futures and options contracts
Basics of option pricing and option Greeks
Option pricing models
Implied volatility
Options from buyer and seller perspectives
By the end

Understand calls, puts, option values, Greeks, payoff behaviour and how options differ from futures.

05Strategies using Equity Futures and Equity Options10%
What it covers
Futures contracts for hedging, speculation and arbitrage
Use of options for trading and hedging
Arbitrage using options: put-call parity
Delta-hedging
Interpreting open interest and put-call ratio for trading strategies
By the end

Apply futures and options to hedging, trading, arbitrage and basic market interpretation.

06Trading Mechanism10%
What it covers
Trading mechanism
Eligibility criteria for stocks in derivatives trading
Selection criteria of indices for trading
Adjustments for corporate actions
Trading costs
Algorithmic trading
Tracking futures and options data
Investor Risk Reduction Access platform
By the end

Understand how equity derivatives trading works on exchanges, including eligibility, costs, data and market access safeguards.

07Clearing, Settlement and Risk Management10%
What it covers
Clearing members
Clearing mechanism
Interoperability of clearing corporations
Settlement mechanism
Risk management
Margining and mark-to-market under SPAN
Position limits
Violations and penalties
Client funds running account settlement
Settlement guarantee fund and investor protection fund
Cyber Security and Cyber Resilience framework
By the end

Understand clearing, settlement, margins, position limits and risk controls in equity derivatives markets.

08Legal and Regulatory Environment5%
What it covers
Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1956
Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992
Regulations in trading
Regulations in clearing, settlement and risk management
Eligibility criteria for derivatives segment membership
SOP in case of default by trading member or clearing member
SOP for handling stock exchange outage
By the end

Know the legal and regulatory framework governing equity derivatives markets in India.

09Accounting and Taxation5%
What it covers
Accounting treatment for derivatives transactions
Taxation of derivative transactions in securities
By the end

Understand the basic accounting and taxation treatment relevant to equity derivatives transactions.

10Sales Practices and Investor Protection Measures5%
What it covers
Understanding client risk profile
Risk Disclosure Document
Written anti-money laundering procedures
Investor grievance redressal mechanism
By the end

Learn client suitability, disclosures, AML procedures and investor protection mechanisms for derivatives sales.

The study toolkit

Four ways you learn it

Every chapter is covered four ways, so derivatives concepts stay exam-ready.

01

Playbooks

Chapter-wise visual playbooks for derivatives basics, indices, futures, options, strategies, clearing and regulation.

02

Sprint notes

Fast sprint recaps with formulas, payoff logic, margin concepts and revision cues to lock everything in before exam day.

03

Practice questions

Over 300 chapter-wise practice questions that reinforce futures, options, trading mechanism, settlement and risk management.

04

Mock papers

Five full-length mock papers, three to clear and two bonus, that mirror the Series VIII exam rhythm.

Don’t study harder. Study the mapped syllabus.

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Proof, not promises

Learners who moved faster

Start now

Futures and options stopped feeling like formulas. The mapped notes connected payoff charts, pricing and strategies clearly.

AV Arjun VermaDERIVATIVES PREP

The high-weight chapters were easy to prioritize: forwards, futures, options, trading and clearing.

RM Riya MenonEQUITY DESK

Options Greeks finally made sense because every chapter had examples and revision cues.

KS Karan ShahF&O LEARNER

The mocks helped me handle numerical and concept questions without panicking.

NP Nisha PatilCERTIFICATION PREP

I liked that the course starts with basics and then moves into strategies, settlement and regulation.

IR Ishan RaoTRADING TRACK

The chapter-wise questions made futures pricing and option payoff questions much easier to revise.

MJ Meera JainMARKETS LEARNER

Legal, taxation and investor protection were compact and exam-focused instead of scattered.

DK Dev KhannaRISK DESK