How to Become a SEBI Research Analyst in 2026: Licence, Costs, Timeline and the Software You Need

Short answer: to get an RA licence you need a graduate degree in any discipline (or a CFA Charter), a pass in the NISM Series XV Research Analyst exam, and an application in Form A to BSE, which acts as the Research Analyst Administration and Supervisory Body (RAASB). RAASB reviews the application and recommends it to SEBI, which grants registration. For an individual, SEBI charges ₹2,000 to apply and ₹3,000 to register. You also keep a deposit of ₹1 lakh if you have up to 150 clients, and pay RAASB's administrative fee.

An "RA licence" is registration as a Research Analyst under the SEBI (Research Analysts) Regulations, 2014. You need it before you publish research reports, run model portfolios or make buy, sell or hold recommendations on securities for clients. This guide follows SEBI's Master Circular for Research Analysts dated 6 February 2026 and the Regulations as amended up to 10 October 2026.

RA licence at a glance (2026)

For the full budget, including the cost of running the practice, see SEBI RA registration cost.

Step 1: Check your eligibility

Individuals, partnership firms and body corporates (including LLPs) can register. Under Regulation 7, as amended with effect from 25 November 2025, you need:

• a graduate degree or equivalent in any discipline from a recognised university or institution, or a CFA Charter, and
• the NISM Series XV Research Analyst certification.

NISM's Post Graduate Program in Securities Market (Research Analysis) is an alternative route. PGP holders do not need the entry-level exam, but must obtain the renewal certification within three years of registration. For a company or LLP, the principal officer, employees working as research analysts and persons associated with research services must meet the same requirements. Applicants, principal officers and partners must be fit and proper persons.

Already registered before the change? The revised qualification does not apply to existing RAs. They need to keep a valid NISM certification.

RA exam eligibility: the NISM Series XV exam

There is no minimum qualification to sit the NISM exam. The degree requirement applies when you register with SEBI.

Part-time RAs

An individual or partnership firm can register as a part-time RA if its other business or employment is unrelated to securities, does not involve handling client money and does not involve giving investment advice. SEBI's examples include chartered accountants, company secretaries, cost accountants and IRDAI agents. An employee needs an NOC from the employer, and anyone advising on gold, real estate or crypto is not eligible. Part-time RAs need the same qualification and certification, must keep research segregated from their other work, and must disclose that their other services are not under SEBI's purview.

Registering as both RA and investment adviser

An individual or partnership firm registered as an investment adviser can also be granted RA registration. It must comply with both sets of regulations and keep the two activities at arm's length. See RA vs RIA for the differences.

Step 2: Apply through RAASB (BSE)

Once registered, you get a registration number in the INH format, which must appear on your website, research reports and communications.

Does the RA licence expire? No. Registration is permanent, but you pay SEBI's fee every five years to keep it in force, within three months before the paid period ends. Your NISM certificate expires every three years and must be renewed separately.

Step 3: Know the costs

SEBI fees (from 25 July 2024)

RAASB administrative fee

SEBI requires every RA to enlist with RAASB and pay the administrative fee RAASB specifies. Check the current amount on BSE's RAASB portal before you budget.

Deposit, not net worth

There is no net worth or capital adequacy requirement for RAs. Instead, you keep a deposit with a lien in favour of RAASB, sized by the maximum number of clients you had on any day of the previous financial year:

The deposit can be held as units of a liquid or overnight mutual fund or as a deposit with a scheduled bank. Clients include both fee-paying and non-fee-paying clients. Review the slab every year and top up by 30 April if you crossed one.

First-year regulatory budget for an individual: NISM ₹1,500, SEBI ₹2,000 plus ₹3,000, the RAASB administrative fee, and a ₹1 lakh deposit that remains your money, invested and lien-marked.

Step 4: Plan the timeline

SEBI does not publish a fixed processing time for RA registration. How long it takes depends mostly on things you control:

• The NISM exam: book it once you have covered the syllabus, and check the certificate will stay valid well beyond your application date.
• A complete Form A: the right qualification proof, disclosure of every other business activity, and a segregation undertaking if you apply as a part-time RA.
• Fast, complete answers to RAASB's queries. Incomplete answers are the most common cause of delay.
• The registration fee: pay it within 15 days of SEBI's intimation, then enlist with RAASB and place the deposit.

Common reasons for delay

• An NISM certificate that has expired, or will expire soon after you apply.
• A qualification that does not match Regulation 7, or missing proof of it.
• Undisclosed other business activities, or a part-time application without a clear segregation undertaking.
• Incomplete answers to RAASB's queries.
• Past association with unregistered stock-tip activity. SEBI-regulated persons may not associate with unregistered persons who give securities advice or make return claims. Moving from social media to a licence? Read from finfluencer to registered research analyst.

Step 5: Compliance after registration

• Website disclosures: registration details, the investor charter, terms and disclosures.
• Complaints data: published monthly, by the 7th of the following month, in SEBI's format. See RA monthly complaint data format.
• Half-yearly report to RAASB: for the periods ending 30 September and 31 March, filed within 30 days.
• Annual compliance audit: by a member of ICAI, ICSI or ICMAI, completed within six months of the financial-year end. See annual audit preparation and annual return filing.
• Fee rules: for individual and HUF clients, fees are capped at ₹1,51,000 per family per year, excluding statutory charges. RAASB revises the cap once every three years using the Cost Inflation Index. Accredited investors and non-individual clients are exempt. See what an RA may charge.
• Records: every research report with its rationale, and client interactions, kept for at least five years, and longer if a dispute is pending. An amendment notified on 10 October 2026, effective 9 November 2026, changes the communication-record rules in Regulation 25, including call recordings with institutional-investor clients.
• Advertising and social media: see social media guidelines for SEBI-registered advisors.
• Deposit review: every year, by 30 April.

Put these dates in one place with the SEBI RA compliance calendar.

What you need on day one

Before you take your first fee, have these in place. The full 30-day plan is in after SEBI RA registration: 30-day setup checklist.

1. A website with your INH number, investor charter, terms, disclosures and complaints data. Not sure yours is complete? Run the free website compliance health check.
2. Onboarding in the right order: KYC, then consent to your terms and MITC, then payment.
3. Payment collection by non-cash modes, with invoices. See collecting subscription payments.
4. A way to deliver research that keeps a dated record of every recommendation and removes access when a plan expires.
5. A record of every recommendation, with its rationale, that you can show an inspector.

Day one is when you decide what kind of RA you will be

Most new RAs launch with a Telegram channel and a payment link. It works, but to a client it looks like every other tip channel, and the price you can charge reflects that.

The alternative is to launch as a premium research service in your own brand. With AlphaQuark, your clients download your app, with your name, logo and colours, and do everything there:

• Receive your recommendations with your rationale, plus your research reports.
• Follow your model portfolios and see how each has performed.
• Act through their own broker: they connect an account they already hold, across 14 brokers, and place orders from your app.
• Rebalance in a few taps: when you change a model, they review the trades worked out from their own holdings and accept.
• See their own records: order history, payments and subscriptions.

Behind the app, AlphaQuark runs the day-one list: KYC, MITC and e-sign before payment, payments and invoices, plan-based access with removal on expiry, and a dated record of every recommendation. Your client gets your call, the reason behind it and the order in one place. You get a service worth charging more for, with the compliance work handled in the same app.

See the SEBI RA software platform, or compare your options in best software for SEBI Research Analysts.

Sources

Checked 24 October 2026: SEBI Master Circular for Research Analysts (6 February 2026); SEBI Research Analysts Regulations, 2014 (amended up to 10 October 2026); NISM Series XV Research Analyst certification and Series XV-B renewal.