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CFA is not for the people with empty pockets. Program enrollment and exam registration fees will cost from $990 to $1395, depending on the timing of application. Plus, it really helps to have some unofficial preps, like Schweser Study Notes, if you don't have time to go through the multi-hundred-pages official curriculum. So, it's really nice to learn that some of that material is now available for free. Investopedia.com now hosts CFA Level 1 prep, along with Series 6, 7 and 63. Even after spending 5 or so minutes browsing the site it became obvious to me that this is way too little to pass the exam, but it is still a very useful resource to gain an understanding of the topics covered and occasionally find one of the not-so-complicated formulas online whenever you need them. Not so bad for the times when salaries are not expected to increase for a while.

Some of the readers may remember my post People Needed to Manage the Fun , that I posted this summer. Apparently, whoever posted that job description may have been less mistaken than I thought. I am reading the AIMA's Roadmap to Hedge Funds , and one line there drew my attention: Some [absolute return managers] go even so far as to referring to the traditional asset management as "fun management" rather than "fund management"... Although I doubt that the pun was intended on the part of the job-poster, it is still quite amusing. On a more serious note, the attitude towards the traditional long-only managers described above is based on the fact that they are not held accountable for any losses, whereas the HF managers are, both by means of watermarks, hurdle rates and more often than not, co-investment of their own capital.

Last Sunday (Saturday for you in Americas) was the big day for the CFA Level 1 candidates. Sleepless nights came to an end, and ahead were 6 hours of exam. I was one of these candidates. Personally, I found this exam a little easier than the one I sat in July (and failed). There were fewer problems that required complicated calculations, and the Quantitative Methods section contained less difficult statistical problems. Interestingly enough, the pledge on the exam problems pamphlet (mandatory to sign) explicitly required candidates not to disclose contents of the exam, so I am not going into more detail, but my overall impression is that this time I may stand a chance. Although, this is the CFA exam, you can never be really sure...