Insurance agents who sell life insurance and annuities start with a state life license, often paired with health. The life line covers fixed products like term and whole life and fixed annuities, and the health line adds health coverage. The securities exams come in only when you want to sell products that are also securities, such as variable annuities, variable life, and mutual funds. That next step usually means the SIE, the Series 6 or Series 7 through a sponsoring broker-dealer, the Series 63, and a variable products authority on your insurance license. Fee-based advice adds the Series 65 or 66.
This is the general path. Each state sets its own insurance and securities rules, so confirm the details with your stateās department of insurance and securities regulator.
What licenses does an insurance agent need?
It depends on what you plan to sell. The dividing line is whether a product is a security. FINRAās insurance agents page says some insurance products, like variable annuities, are securities under federal law, while fixed and fixed indexed annuities are not.
| What you want to do | What you need | Sponsor needed? |
|---|---|---|
| Sell term, whole, universal, or indexed life; fixed or fixed indexed annuities; health, disability, or long-term care | State life and health license | No |
| Sell variable annuities, variable life, or mutual funds | Life license (with a variable products authority where your state requires one), plus the SIE, the Series 6 or 7, and usually the Series 63 | Yes, for the Series 6 or 7 |
| Give investment advice for a fee | Series 65, or the Series 66 if you hold the Series 7 | No sponsor for the exam |
| Supervise reps who sell funds and variable contracts | Usually the Series 26 (requires the SIE and the Series 6 or 7) | Yes |
Why does the life and health license come first?
Itās the one you can get on your own. Your state licenses insurance producers directly, so you donāt need a firm to sponsor the exam. Many insurance agencies hire people who hold, or are working toward, this license and then help them add the securities licenses later.
Some states require a pre-licensing course before the exam, and annuity sales can add training of their own. Texas, for example, requires agents who sell annuities to complete an approved āAnnuity Best Interestā course, according to TDIās annuity products page. The how to get a life and health license guide walks through the state steps.
When do you need the SIE?
Before you can hold a Series 6 or Series 7 registration. The Securities Industry Essentials exam is a corequisite for both. Itās open to anyone 18 or older, and you donāt need a sponsoring firm to take it, so you can pass it while youāre still selling fixed products or looking for the right firm.
Passing the SIE alone doesnāt let you sell securities. Itās the first half of the registration. CertFuelās SIE prep is free.
Should you take the Series 6 or the Series 7?
Take the Series 6 if you mainly want variable annuities, variable life, and mutual funds. FINRA says it qualifies you to sell mutual funds, variable annuities, variable life insurance, unit investment trusts, and municipal fund securities such as 529 plans.
Take the Series 7 if you also want to offer individual stocks, bonds, or options. It covers variable products too, along with a much wider range of securities.
Either way, you must be associated with and sponsored by a FINRA member firm (a broker-dealer) to take the exam. For an insurance agent, thatās usually the broker-dealer your agency or carrier works with. The Series 6 guide for insurance producers goes deeper on this step, and life and health vs. Series 6 explains which products sit on each side of the line.
Do you need the Series 63?
Usually. The Series 63 is NASAAās state securities law exam. NASAAās exam FAQs say most states require it for registering as a securities agent, along with FINRAās own exam requirements. You donāt need a sponsor to take it, but your firm handles the state registration.
State rules on variable products can name it directly. Wyomingās rule on variable annuity sales, for example, requires the Series 6 or Series 7 and the Series 63, or another applicable FINRA license.
Does your insurance license need a variable products authority?
Usually. The NAICās Producer Licensing Model Act, a model law states can adopt, lists variable life and variable annuity products as their own line of authority, separate from life. The NAICās Uniform Licensing Standards call for states to adopt that line, though states may waive the exam for it.
Two examples of how states handle it:
- Texas. It requires both licenses. TDIās annuities guide says agents who sell variable annuities āmust be registered with FINRA and have a TDI license.ā
- Wyoming. Its variable annuity rule requires a license authorizing the solicitation of variable life and variable annuity products, verification of FINRA registration, and the exams above.
Some states, such as Florida, fold variable contracts into the life exam itself. Floridaās exam is titled āFlorida Agentās Life (including Annuities & Variable Contracts)ā in its Pearson VUE content outlines. Even then, the securities side still needs the FINRA registration. Check with your department of insurance for the exact steps in your state.
When do the Series 65 or 66 come in?
Only if you want to give investment advice for a fee, as an investment adviser representative, rather than earn commissions on products. NASAA says passing the Series 65 is normally a prerequisite for that registration, and most states accept certain professional designations instead.
The Series 66 combines the Series 63 and Series 65 into one exam, but NASAA says you need a valid SIE and Series 7 to register with it. If you took the Series 6 instead of the 7, the Series 63 and Series 65 are the route.
What about supervising other reps?
Thatās usually the Series 26, FINRAās principal exam for investment company and variable contracts products. FINRA requires the SIE and the Series 6 or Series 7 to hold it, and a sponsoring firm to take it. A Series 24 general securities principal can also supervise these products. Most agents donāt need either unless they move into a supervisory role.
What does the full path look like?
For an agent who wants to sell both fixed and variable products, a common order is:
- State life and health license. Start selling fixed products.
- SIE. Take it on your own, any time.
- Series 6 or Series 7. Join a broker-dealer that sponsors you.
- Series 63. Usually right after, for state securities registration.
- Variable products authority on your insurance license, where your state requires it.
- Series 65 or 66, only if you add fee-based advice.
The order of steps 2 through 5 can shift depending on your firm and state. Steps 1 and 2 are the ones you control without a sponsor.
How can CertFuel help with each step?
CertFuel has courses for every exam on this path except the Series 26: Life and Health, the SIE, the Series 6, the Series 7, the Series 63, the Series 65, and the Series 66. The Life and Health course covers general insurance knowledge, not your stateās insurance law, and it doesnāt count toward any stateās pre-licensing hours.
If youāre starting from zero, begin with the life and health study guide and the free SIE prep, since neither needs a sponsor.