PFRDA Grade A Phase I Exam Pattern :

There shall be negative marking (1/4th of marks assigned to the question) for the Paper 1 and Paper 2 in Phase I.

There shall be a cut-off of minimum 30% for Paper 1 (no sectional cut-off shall be there) and a cut-off of minimum 40% for Paper 2 in Phase I.

Candidates would need to secure separate cut-off in each paper as mentioned above as well as aggregate cut-off marks of 40% in Phase I exam to be shortlisted for Phase II. Marks obtained in Phase I shall be used only for shortlisting the candidates for Phase II examination process and will not be counted for final selection of the candidates.

Subject to the criteria mentioned above, all the candidates who clear Phase I shall be shortlisted for Phase II. List of candidates shortlisted for Phase II will be made available on PFRDA website.

PFRDA Grade A Phase II Exam Pattern :

1. An online examination consisting of two papers of 100 marks each. 
2. Paper-1 will be descriptive in nature and the duration will be 60 minutes (1 hour)
3. Paper-2 will consist of Multiple-Choice Questions, the duration of each section is 40 minutes. 
4. The Aggregate Cut-off to be scored is 50%.
5. There shall be negative marking (1/4th of marks assigned to the question) for Paper 2 in Phase II

1. Costing 
2. Management 
3. Accounting
4. Company Law
5. Economics
6. Finance
7. General Awareness
8. Quantitative Aptitude
9. Reasoning
10. English
11. Computer GK

PFRDA Grade A Prelims (Phase – I) – Paper 1 Syllabus (Common For All)

PFRDA Grade A Syllabus Phase I For Paper I will be common for all the candidates. This will have MCQs of 100 marks. Paper, I will have four sections:

• English Language

• Reasoning Ability

• Quantitative Aptitude

• General Awareness (including Financial Awareness)
   

English Language

• Error Spotting
• Column based Fillers and Sentence Connectors
• Paragraph Completion
• Sentence Rearrangement
• Comprehension
• Fill in the Blanks
• Passages
• Synonyms and Antonyms
• Active and Passive Voice
• Direct and Indirect Speech
• Idioms & Phrases etc.

Reasoning Ability

• Puzzles
• Seating Arrangements
• Direction Sense
• Blood Relations
• Syllogisms
• Inequalities
• Order and Ranking
• Coding-Decoding
• Machine Input-Output
• Alpha-Numeric-Symbol Series
• Data Sufficiency
• Number System and Conversions
• Logical Reasoning etc.

Quantitative Aptitude

• Data Interpretation
• Inequalities
• Number Series
• Approximation and Simplification
• Data Sufficiency
• HCF and LCM
• Inequality (Quadratic & Quantity based)
• Profit and Loss
• Time and work & Pipe and cistern
• Permutation, Combination & Probability
• Problem on Ages
• Work and Time
• Speed Distance and Time
• Mensuration
• Average, Ratio and Proportion, etc.

General Awareness:

The GA section will consist of contemporary events of national & international importance. The general awareness section of PFRDA Grade A will revolve around the following aspects.

• Current Affairs
• Financial Awareness
• Current Affairs – National & International
• Budget
• Awards and Honours
• Important Financial & Economic News
• Important Days
• International & National Organizations
• Sports
• Books and Authors
• Science – Inventions & Discoveries
• Countries & Capitals etc.

PFRDA Grade A Prelims (Phase-I) – Paper 2

Commerce & Accountancy:

• Accounting as a financial information system;
• Accounting Standards with specific reference to Accounting for Depreciation, Inventories, Revenue Recognition, Fixed Assets, Foreign Exchange Transactions, Investments.
• Cash Flow Statement, Fund flow statement, Financial statement analysis; Ratio analysis;
• Accounting for Share Capital Transactions including Bonus Shares, Right Shares.
• Employees Stock Option and Buy-Back of Securities.
• Preparation and Presentation of Company Final Accounts.

Management :

• Management: its nature and scope; The Management Processes; Planning, Organization, Staffing, Directing and controlling; The Role of a Manager in an Organization.
• Leadership: The Tasks of a Leader; Leadership Styles; Leadership Theories; A successful Leader versus an effective Leader.
• Human Resource Development: Concept of HRD; Goals of HRD; Performance Appraisal – Potential appraisal and development – Feedback and Performance Counselling – Career Planning – Training and Development – Rewards – Employee Welfare. Motivation, Morale, and Incentives: Theories of Motivation; How Managers Motivate; Concept of Morale; Factors determining morale; Role of Incentives in Building up Morale.
• Communication: Steps in the Communication Process; Communication Channels; Oral versus Written Communication; Verbal versus non-verbal Communication; upward, downward and lateral communication; Barriers to Communication, Role of Information Technology.
• Corporate Governance: Factors affecting Corporate Governance; Mechanisms of Corporate Governance.
• Use Code P30 to avail 30% discount on SEBI Courses.

Finance :

(a) Financial System:

• Money Market, Capital Market
• Reserve Bank of India- functions, and conduct of monetary policy, Banking System in India, Financial Institutions – SIDBI, EXIM, NABARD, NHB, etc.
• SEBI – functions, and role
• Prevention of Money Laundering
• Know Your Client Framework
   

(b) Financial Markets:

• Primary and Secondary Markets (Forex, Money, Bond, Equity, etc.), functions, instruments, recent developments.

(c) General Topics:

• Risk Management in Financial Sector
• Basics of Derivatives: Forward, Futures, and Swap
• Changing Landscape of the Financial sector
• Recent Developments in the Financial Sector, Portfolio Investment, Public Sector Reforms, Disinvestments
• Financial Inclusion- use of technology
• Alternate source of finance, private and social cost-benefit, Public-Private Partnership
• Corporate Governance in the Financial Sector, the role of e-governance in addressing the issues of corruption and inefficiency in the government sector
• The Union Budget – Direct and Indirect taxes; Non-tax sources of Revenue, GST, Thirteenth Finance Commission and GST, Finance Commission, Fiscal Policy, Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act (FRBM)
• Inflation: Definition, trends, estimates, consequences, and remedies (control): WPI, CPI – components, and trends.

Costing :

• Overview of Cost and Management Accounting – Introduction to Cost and Management Accounting, Objectives and Scope of Cost and Management Accounting.
• Methods of Costing – Single Output/ Unit Costing, Job Costing, Batch Costing, Contract Costing, Process/ Operation Costing, Costing of Service Sectors.
• Basics of Cost Control and Analysis – (i) Standard Costing, (ii) Marginal Costing, (iii) Budget and Budgetary Control.
• Lean System and Innovation:-
  a) Introduction to Lean System
  b) Just-in-Time (JIT)
  c) Kaizen Costing
  d) 5 Ss
  e) Total Productive Maintenance (TPM)
  f) Cellular Manufacturing/ One-Piece Flow Production Systems
  g) Six Sigma (SS)
  h) Introduction to Process Innovation and Business Process Re-engineering (BPR).

Companies Act :

• The Companies Act, 2013 – Specific reference to Chapter III, Chapter IV, Chapter VIII, Chapter X, Chapter XI, Chapter XII, and Chapter XXVII.

Economics :

• Demand and Supply, Market Structures, National Income: Concepts and Measurement, Classical & Keynesian Approach Determination of output and employment, Consumption Function, Investment Function, Multiplier and Accelerator, Demand and Supply for Money, IS-LM, Inflation and Phillips Curve, Business Cycles
• Balance of Payments, Foreign Exchange Markets, Inflation, Monetary and Fiscal Policy, Non-banking Financial Institutions.

PFRDA Grade A (Phase-II) – Paper 1

English Writing Skills

The paper on English shall be framed in a manner to assess the writing skills including expression and understanding of the topic including precis writing/ essay writing/ comprehension.

PFRDA Grade A (Phase-II) – Paper 2

Commerce & Accountancy:

• Accounting as a financial information system;
• Accounting Standards with specific reference to Accounting for Depreciation, Inventories, Revenue Recognition, Fixed Assets, Foreign Exchange Transactions, Investments.
• Cash Flow Statement, Fund flow statement, Financial statement analysis; Ratio analysis;
• Accounting for Share Capital Transactions including Bonus Shares, Right Shares.
• Employees Stock Option and Buy-Back of Securities.
• Preparation and Presentation of Company Final Accounts.

Management :

• Management: its nature and scope; The Management Processes; Planning, Organization, Staffing, Directing and controlling; The Role of a Manager in an Organization.
• Leadership: The Tasks of a Leader; Leadership Styles; Leadership Theories; A successful Leader versus an effective Leader.
• Human Resource Development: Concept of HRD; Goals of HRD; Performance Appraisal – Potential appraisal and development – Feedback and Performance Counselling – Career Planning – Training and Development – Rewards – Employee Welfare. Motivation, Morale, and Incentives: Theories of Motivation; How Managers Motivate; Concept of Morale; Factors determining morale; Role of Incentives in Building up Morale.
• Communication: Steps in the Communication Process; Communication Channels; Oral versus Written Communication; Verbal versus non-verbal Communication; upward, downward and lateral communication; Barriers to Communication, Role of Information Technology.
• Corporate Governance: Factors affecting Corporate Governance; Mechanisms of Corporate Governance.
• Use Code P30 to avail 30% discount on SEBI Courses.

Finance :

(a) Financial System:

• Money Market, Capital Market
• Reserve Bank of India- functions, and conduct of monetary policy, Banking System in India, Financial Institutions – SIDBI, EXIM, NABARD, NHB, etc.
• SEBI – functions, and role
• Prevention of Money Laundering
• Know Your Client Framework
   

(b) Financial Markets:

• Primary and Secondary Markets (Forex, Money, Bond, Equity, etc.), functions, instruments, recent developments.

(c) General Topics:

• Risk Management in Financial Sector
• Basics of Derivatives: Forward, Futures, and Swap
• Changing Landscape of the Financial sector
• Recent Developments in the Financial Sector, Portfolio Investment, Public Sector Reforms, Disinvestments
• Financial Inclusion- use of technology
• Alternate source of finance, private and social cost-benefit, Public-Private Partnership
• Corporate Governance in the Financial Sector, the role of e-governance in addressing the issues of corruption and inefficiency in the government sector
• The Union Budget – Direct and Indirect taxes; Non-tax sources of Revenue, GST, Thirteenth Finance Commission and GST, Finance Commission, Fiscal Policy, Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act (FRBM)
• Inflation: Definition, trends, estimates, consequences, and remedies (control): WPI, CPI – components, and trends.

Costing :

• Overview of Cost and Management Accounting – Introduction to Cost and Management Accounting, Objectives and Scope of Cost and Management Accounting.
• Methods of Costing – Single Output/ Unit Costing, Job Costing, Batch Costing, Contract Costing, Process/ Operation Costing, Costing of Service Sectors.
• Basics of Cost Control and Analysis – (i) Standard Costing, (ii) Marginal Costing, (iii) Budget and Budgetary Control.
• Lean System and Innovation:-
  a) Introduction to Lean System
  b) Just-in-Time (JIT)
  c) Kaizen Costing
  d) 5 Ss
  e) Total Productive Maintenance (TPM)
  f) Cellular Manufacturing/ One-Piece Flow Production Systems
  g) Six Sigma (SS)
  h) Introduction to Process Innovation and Business Process Re-engineering (BPR).

Companies Act :

• The Companies Act, 2013 – Specific reference to Chapter III, Chapter IV, Chapter VIII, Chapter X, Chapter XI, Chapter XII, and Chapter XXVII.

Economics :

• Demand and Supply, Market Structures, National Income: Concepts and Measurement, Classical & Keynesian Approach Determination of output and employment, Consumption Function, Investment Function, Multiplier and Accelerator, Demand and Supply for Money, IS-LM, Inflation and Phillips Curve, Business Cycles
• Balance of Payments, Foreign Exchange Markets, Inflation, Monetary and Fiscal Policy, Non-banking Financial Institutions.

Pension Sector

• Status of pension sector in India
• Types of retirement schemes in India and their features
• National Pension System
• Atal Pension Yojana
• Annuity Plans
• Basics of investment