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Public SIE data report

SIE exam difficulty report: what real candidates actually miss

Most “is the SIE hard?” answers are opinion. This report is measured: aggregate, anonymous miss rates from real practice answers on Lucky the Banker, joined to a public bank of 1,906 SIE questions. Refreshed daily — last generated 2026-10-05.

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Answers analyzed
19,986

Real practice answers, aggregated anonymously per question.

Overall miss rate
22.4%

Share of all analyzed answers that were wrong.

Questions with data
1,906

Bank questions with at least one real attempt; 1,016 have 10+ attempts and are ranked below.

Hardest topics

SIE topics ranked by real miss rate

Topics need at least 30 real attempts to be ranked. Higher miss rate = candidates get these wrong more often.

TopicMiss rateAttemptsQuestions with data
Options32%2,200220
Anti-Money Laundering & Reporting29.4%25227
Debt Securities27.4%2,478239
Economic Indicators24.4%73848
Capital Markets & Offerings23.6%1,868147
Equity Securities21.4%2,029189
Trading & Settlement21.3%1,979202
Communications & Sales Practices21.1%43648
Investment Companies & Packaged Products20.3%3,354314
Regulatory Framework19.5%1,915179
Risk & Portfolio Management18.1%54854
Account Types17.2%1,096123
Customer Accounts & Suitability12.2%27930
Prohibited Activities & Ethics9.6%81486
Most missed

The 20 most-missed SIE practice questions

Each question links to a free page with the full answer and explanation. Minimum 10 attempts.

  1. 1. A client wants to minimize upfront sales charges and is willing to pay higher ongoing expenses. Which mutual fund class…
    90% missed
    Investment Companies & Packaged Products · Mutual Funds - Sales Charges · 10 attempts · Authored “medium”
  2. 2. A broker-dealer is required to maintain books and records, submit financial reports, and register with the SEC. Which…
    87.5% missed
    Capital Markets & Offerings · Securities Exchange Act of 1934 · 16 attempts · Authored “medium”
  3. 3. Regulation S-P requires broker-dealers to adopt written policies and procedures to protect customer information from…
    83.3% missed
    Capital Markets & Offerings · Regulation S-P Safeguards · 12 attempts · Authored “medium”
  4. 4. A bear call spread is created by:
    81.8% missed
    Options · Spreads · 11 attempts · Authored “medium”
  5. 5. Which of the following is a government-sponsored enterprise, and its securities are NOT fully backed by the U.S.…
    78.9% missed
    Debt Securities · Agency Bonds · 19 attempts · Authored “easy”
  6. 6. A company has $100 million in assets, $40 million in liabilities, and 10 million common shares outstanding. Preferred…
    76.9% missed
    Equity Securities · Book Value · 13 attempts · Authored “hard”
  7. 7. Under the Bank Secrecy Act, broker-dealers must file a Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) when they detect transactions…
    76.5% missed
    Anti-Money Laundering & Reporting · Anti-Money Laundering · 17 attempts · Authored “medium”
  8. 8. Which security pays interest semiannually and matures in 2–10 years?
    76% missed
    Debt Securities · Treasury Securities - T-notes · 25 attempts · Authored “medium”
  9. 9. An investor writes (sells) 1 XYZ Dec 70 put at $5. What is the investor's maximum potential loss?
    75% missed
    Options · Options — Short Put · 12 attempts · Authored “hard”
  10. 10. An investor in the 32% federal tax bracket is considering a municipal bond yielding 4%. What is the taxable equivalent…
    75% missed
    Debt Securities · Municipal Bonds — Taxable Equivalent Yield · 12 attempts · Authored “hard”
  11. 11. If an option is out of the money, what does its premium consist of?
    75% missed
    Options · Time value · 12 attempts · Authored “medium”
  12. 12. If ABC stock is trading at $42, which 40-strike option has intrinsic value?
    72.7% missed
    Options · Intrinsic value · 11 attempts · Authored “easy”
  13. 13. To qualify as a REIT, a company must meet all of the following requirements EXCEPT:
    72.7% missed
    Investment Companies & Packaged Products · REITs — Qualification Requirements · 11 attempts · Authored “hard”
  14. 14. Under FINRA rules, the maximum sales charge for a mutual fund is:
    70% missed
    Investment Companies & Packaged Products · Mutual Funds — Sales Charge Limits · 10 attempts · Authored “medium”
  15. 15. A put option with a strike price of $40 when the underlying stock is trading at $35 is:
    70% missed
    Options · Options — ITM/OTM/ATM · 10 attempts · Authored “easy”
  16. 16. Which statement about REITs is correct?
    70% missed
    Investment Companies & Packaged Products · REITs · 10 attempts · Authored “medium”
  17. 17. Which factor does NOT directly affect the premium of an equity option?
    70% missed
    Options · Option premiums · 10 attempts · Authored “hard”
  18. 18. Which factor decreases an option’s premium?
    70% missed
    Options · Option premiums · 10 attempts · Authored “medium”
  19. 19. Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS) adjust which component for inflation?
    70% missed
    Debt Securities · TIPS · 10 attempts · Authored “medium”
  20. 20. Which party is primarily involved when ETFs are created or redeemed in large blocks known as 'creation units'?
    68.8% missed
    Investment Companies & Packaged Products · ETFs - Redemption · 16 attempts · Authored “medium”
Calibration

Does authored difficulty match real performance?

Authored “easy”
19.5%
miss rate across 5,758 attempts
Authored “medium”
23%
miss rate across 9,670 attempts
Authored “hard”
24.8%
miss rate across 4,558 attempts
Methodology & sources

Computed from anonymous, aggregate practice-answer records on Lucky the Banker joined to the public SIE question bank. Answers are counted per question; no names, emails, or per-user data are used or exposed. Questions need at least 10 real attempts to be ranked individually and topics need at least 30 attempts. The report refreshes daily.