Just timed myself and took the official CFA 2017 Mock Exam (AM) - item set questions. Found it a bit challenging. Scored 63%. Has anybody else done it yet?
Yes, I found that the CFAI Mock exam to be more difficult, scored ~68%. I am thinking maybe the questions in this mock are more aligned to the CFAI materials, so it ‘seemed’ more difficult to me.
I have been using the Schweser materials almost exclusively.
Regardless, I just need to study and practice more.
grading mine right now, did you give yourself credit for Q15 since the CFA botched it?
I got Q15 wrong, Not sure how they botched it but whatever. I get the concept.
If you think the AM Mock was tough just wait until you do the PM. Yikes.
Doing PM Saturday. I got 46/60 = 77%, 3/6 in derivatives in and fixed income. Q15 everyone got wrong, the right answer isnt even available - CFAI released errata showing how the screwed it up, so theres an extra point.
I’ve got problems with how they justify 34 and 43. For 34/dollar duration, you dont need to “move forward in time” - you already did that by being in the place you are now. Moving forward would indicate predicting DD later on. For 43, yeah, most Alts are illiquid and therefore should get return premium. But managed futures, REITS, commodities…all very liquid. Commodities arent even return enhancing, just a risk reduction.
I don’t remember the question but I guess what they meant by “move forward in time” is to take the yield curve for the forward rates as it is predicted/expected by the current yields (you can construct forward yield curve anytime from current yields as learned in level II: an example is (1+Yield 3 years)^3=(1+ Fwd yield 1 Year)(1+Yield 2 years)^2 you know from equation current yields for 2 and 3 years and can solve for 1 Year Forward yield and so on) but in the future yields can move different from the predicted forward yield curve which is an unexpected move for the yields. So you actually don’t predict DD moving forward but it can be different in the future 
i got 68 in morning but only 60 in the afternoon, not sure if there is much i can improve considering it is my first mock, planning on doing 4 more next 8 days
this is where studying actual cfa material and not prep providers comes in really handy - In the CFA book it specifically states in italics how you calculate dollar durcation by “moving forward in time”. I thought it was a little odd when I read it but then seeing it on a question really made it stick out.
Yeah, I saw that when I went back to review. Seems like a stupid way of explaining it though…common sense would dictate that since you know market values and durations, you are already in a new time, and you’d move back to find old dollar durations, not forward to find new. oh well