Thanks bchadwick for well thought mail and advice. While I am reading books you suggested, is there industry specific certificate on the lines of Trading/Portfolio Management, which covers both worlds. I mean if I have some kind of certificate, I will have both proof and knowledge to show somebody ok I was/want to be in this Journey.
Bchad is 100% right. you should definitely not listen to me either. With that said, you shouldn’t be asking questions like this when you’re 40. I already know why you’re looking to switch careers at 40.
Well, there’s the CMT (Chartered Market Technician), which isn’t a highly regarded designation the way the CFA is, but may still be a useful one in terms of the knowledge. There’s also the CQF (Certificate in Quantitative Finance) if you want to go down that route. The CQF is a very expensive program, like $18k or so, but it’s not as expensive as an MBA, and can be completed in about 6 months. It’s especially useful if you want to do derivatives valuation, I think, although that stuff doesn’t interest me that much, myself.