Advice needed! Should I take on the CFA?!

Question

So I'm trying to break into banking and considering the CFA as a way to help me do it but I need some advice. This is my current situation:

1. I'm heading towards 30 with a CV showing a solid 5 years finance experience and 3 years other (see point 4).
2. I already have the CIMA qualification.
3. I have a broad mix of finance and investment experience (analyst/senior analyst level).
4. I've been out of a traditional job for the last 3 years and only freelancing in finance (I started a business completely unrelated to finance/investments) and this has added 3 years to the 5 years of experience previously mentioned if that makes sense?

Looking to get into Private Banking or Wealth Management.

It would be great to get some advice/words of reassurance if anyone is in even a remotely similar situation. I've read things like "don't bother doing it if you're over 25", "it won't help your chances in banking" etc, etc and I'm just confused.

lugnuts · Answer

naomi said:
Looking to get into Private Banking or Wealth Management.

^ CFA is definitely going to help on this. ^I think the age thing is a fallacy, usually peeps under 25 are trying to get a job, so obviously CFA would help. You're trying to break into PB and PWM so CFA would help regardless of your age. But it is at least three years off your life so you'll have to weigh the costs and benefits.CIMA is useful for finance director roles etc but not sure how useful it is in PWM.

wadiihindu · Answer

Talking to a wealth manager is always a good idea. It's easy to keep your finances in order when everything is going well, but what happens when everything goes south? In these situations, it's important to have someone you can turn to for help. Wealth managers from mcgeewm.com can look at all aspects of your finances and make recommendations based on your unique situation. They will be able to work with you to set up an action plan that will help you get back on track. In this way, we will become more disciplined.