Career change - Army to Finance?

[GavH]

Hi folks, I've been lurking for a short while now and thought I'd best get involved with an intro-cum-request for advice!

I'm currently a serving UK Army Officer considering the move from my current profession into the world of finance, ideally Wealth Management or something similar. I joined the army at 19 with only basic quals (Scottish Highers - 'almost' A Level equivalent and a CII Certificate of Proficiency from when I worked for what was then Royal Sun Alliance) and I've since risen to the rank of Captain and gained a couple of Diplomas along the way (in Management Studies and Administrative Management) as well as sat a couple of the Certificate level CIMA exams. I'm currently studiying the IMC and hope to sit the two exams over the Easter period when I'm on leave.

My main question is what qualifications are best for someone with no experience in Commercial Finance beyond two years in General Insurance and Retail Banking prior to joining the army? I've chosen to study the IMC as it has come recommended as something of a benchmark qualification. Upon succesful completion of the IMC my options at present appear to be:

CFA - Level 1 + IMC = RDR Compliant. I recently met a TA Officer who owns his own Wealth Management firm and who reckoned now is a good time to join the industry because of the RDR (people unwilling to gain the higher level award for potentially less returns if I understood him correctly?). IMC Unit 2 apparantly covers a good chunk of the CFA Level 1 course and having already studies Law, Ethics, Economics and Financial Maths in the CIMA course, I reckon not all of the CFA Level 1 will be new to me.

CIMA - Continue with my CIMA studies. A simple job search with the word 'CIMA' generates significantly more returns than 'IMC' or 'CFA' however accountancy just didn't flick my switch.

MBA - My Level 7 DMS allows me to do a 'top-up' course with Northampton Uni which would get me the post noms; useful for a foot in the door but not sure just how valuable the education would be. MBAs are fast becoming ten a penny and the awarding institute seems to be the deciding factor hence an MBA from the like of Northampton may not be that attractive to prospective employers and hence a waster of time, effort and money?

CISI Diploma - Not as international as the CFA, but more relevant than CIMA or MBA, but not something I've heard much about. As I understand it, I would need to study three of nine subject areas but some appear geared towards those working in certain areas more than others. What are the best subjects to take for someone looking to keep his options open. This could then lead to the CISI Masters in Wealth Management.

CII Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning - Just came across this. Looks like it's pretty much the modern day equivalent of the old FPC 1-3 I contemplated doing when I was younger (until I was told there was no point, not at that age anyway!). From what I've read it appears that I'd need to do Certificate first and then follow it up with the Diploma. Has anyone done this or know of it enough to compare with the above?

It's worth noting that I do not intend to leave the Army before Nov 2015 - the point at which I turn 37 and can leave with a small pension paid immediately upon my departure. As such I have time to perhaps gain a few qualifications, hence I want to have a strategy that gives me the best chance of employment when I do finally leave. At 37 I think I will still remain an attractive prospect to new employers, with significant management and leadership experience in a truly global and dynamic organisation with a proven ability to work in a high pressure environment, analyse information and make time critical judgements etc etc with a little financial cushion should I be unable to match my army salary!

Any useful advice greatly appreciated!

Gav

 

[Jack o'Clubs]

Lots of ex-services COs end up in equity sales, there seems to be quite a tradition in some of the IBs of hiring them, and in my experience few of them had qualifications before they started. If you could get level 1 CFA under your belt then that would definitely give you an advantage. There's a lot of goodwill in the City towards you boys (maybe something to do with the truism in Samuel Johnson's quote about soldiers), so don't be afraid to use it. Don't you have some fairly helpful career / networking advice provided by the army?

 

[GavH]

Thanks for the reply

Lots of ex-services COs end up in equity sales, there seems to be quite a tradition in some of the IBs of hiring them.. There's a lot of goodwill in the City towards you boys (maybe something to do with the truism in Samuel Johnson's quote about soldiers), so don't be afraid to use it.

That is something I have noticed and has definately piqued my interest. Whilst Johnson's quote may or may not be true, I suspect the large old boys network is more at play than any form of guilt.

Don't you have some fairly helpful career / networking advice provided by the army?

The resettlement provided by the army is not really a door that gets opened until well after you've signalled the intent to leave, which as mentioned, I won't be doing for another year or so yet. I then give a years notice and start preparing for the new life at that point, whereupon the resettlement process allows for time off to attend retraining, interviews, house hunting etc. That's the theory anyway; I'm essentially trying to get ahead of the game by gaining relevant and more importantly genuinely useful quals well in advance. What I don't want to do is waste time, money and effort on the wrong ones. Appropriately qualified, enthusiastic, determined but lacking in pertinent experience will presumably be the order of the day over enthusiastic and determined but lacking in any qualifications or experience!

 

[Jack o'Clubs]

Well in that case, CFA definitely the one to go for if it keeps your options open for both wealth management and something like equity sales. None of the others are of much use for the latter, and you're quite right about the importance of the awarding institution for an MBA.

 

[GavH]

I thought that'd be the case and TBH was almost set to submit the card details to pay for the Dec 12 CFA exams when I read the article on the CFA site about the 38% pass rate for Level 1 from last Dec! I knew it was hard and that pass rates are typically less than half of all who try (anyone know for sure if it is a measure of all those who registered or all those who sat the exam?), but nonetheless, it made me stop and re-assess at the last minute.

Nevertheless, grateful for any further advice on the CII or CISI routes or indeed any further thoughts on the CFA award.

 

[The Leopard]

I don't have any experience of what you're talking about and so have no useful advice to give.

But I would like to say thank you for what you do and wish you all the best when you leave the army.

If you decided to try trading for yourself I'm sure skills such as coping with constant uncertainty and the ability to think quickly under pressure would come in very useful.

Anyway, good luck with whatever you end up doing.

 

[GavH]

I would like to say thank you for what you do and wish you all the best when you leave the army...Anyway, good luck with whatever you end up doing.

Thank you, your thoughts are very much appreciated.

 

[LondonGlen]

Wealth management/private client stockbroking is your way forward I'd suggest. Lot of ex-army officers employed in this industry. IMC is a good start and the CISI diploma would prob be more relevant for wealth management than CFA tbh and a tad easier. CFA primarily for institutional fund management and you'll struggle to get into that industry in late 30s. Reg and Comp is a common CISI starter paper. Equity sales to institutions is a shrinking industry, best avoided IMO. Good luck.

 

[GavH]

Wealth management/private client stockbroking is your way forward I'd suggest. Lot of ex-army officers employed in this industry. IMC is a good start and the CISI diploma would prob be more relevant for wealth management than CFA tbh and a tad easier. CFA primarily for institutional fund management and you'll struggle to get into that industry in late 30s. Reg and Comp is a common CISI starter paper. Equity sales to institutions is a shrinking industry, best avoided IMO. Good luck.

Thanks. Oddly enough I've spent a good part of the day looking at the CISI website and the Investment Advice Diploma. At Level 4, it is no more advanced than the IMC, but coupled with an IMC, it offers an alternative route to RDR compliance than CFA level 1. From what I gather, having the IMC would give an exemption for one of the three papers required to pass. Pass rates around the 70% mark look a lot higher than the meagre 38% for the recent CFA 1!

Is it worth bothering with or is going straight to the CISI Diploma a better option?

 

[majicka]

Thanks. Oddly enough I've spent a good part of the day looking at the CISI website and the Investment Advice Diploma. At Level 4, it is no more advanced than the IMC, but coupled with an IMC, it offers an alternative route to RDR compliance than CFA level 1. From what I gather, having the IMC would give an exemption for one of the three papers required to pass. Pass rates around the 70% mark look a lot higher than the meagre 38% for the recent CFA 1!

Is it worth bothering with or is going straight to the CISI Diploma a better option?

Hi mate,

I just noticed this thread and thought I'd give you my opinion.

The CISI Diploma has kind of been superceded by the CISI's Masters in Wealth Management, which is considered a level 7 qualification vs level 6 for the Diploma, although as far as I can see there isn't much difference in the difficulty, just the focus and format of the exam. As the Masters is the higher level qualification and is being pushed as the 'gold standard' qualification, I'd opt for that one. It's less-focused on managing investments on an institutional level and more on the private client level, which IMO would probably make it less interesting.

I don't know if you studied the IMC without a training provider but due to the workload for the Diploma/ Masters, I would suggest you look at one though they are pretty expensive (£1500+ per paper). My company used 7City, who I thought were very good. It's not impossible without them but they give you their own material and point you towards the areas/ subjects you need to study, which makes it a hell of a lot easier.

I think you should have a good shot at the private client side, as has been mentioned before by other posters. If you think you can get into equity sales, then that would definitely be more financially rewarding and more challenging as a career. Obviously, bear in mind there aren't many jobs out there at the moment but hopefully things will have picked up a bit when you eventually leave.

If you do focus on the private client side, I'd suggest going for the more prestigious places as much as possible, private banks, high net worth boutiques and some of the good 'middle ground' investment managers, such as Rathbones, Brewins, Quilter at al. I reckon having been in the army would definitely stand you in good stead at the more prestigious firms.

Good luck.

 

[GavH]

Thanks, I've had a good look at the CISI Masters and it seems to be a more appropriate qualification for getting into Private Banking within the UK.

I do like the cachet and worldwide portability of the CFA charter, but a bit of 'googling' seems to throw up a few posts from around the houses complaining of ambiguous question sets and a degree of difficulty which seems to surprise folk (barely a 1 in 3 Level 1 candidates pass!). The figures for passing each of the three levels is on the CFA site and shows a near constantly downward trend over recent years for each level. It would thus appear that the cachet is directly related to the difficulty and perhaps in turn is leading the CFA Institute to a point of creeping excellence in terms of the question set. That is somewhat offputting, hence a more pertinent interest in the Masters which thus far appears to have a more realistic and achievable pass mark. Does this damage it's standing against the CFA though? I've yet to detect any sentiment confirming this so I doubt it, but not being actually in the industry means I have no real way of telling.

A final point I should have mentioned: When I do leave the army, I will be making Northern Ireland my home, limiting quite severly the options for using ex-army contacts and the proverbial 'old boys network' in the City.

 

[LondonGlen]

Gav, that's a bit of a gamechanger. Pleasant place to live NI (esp nowadays as don't need to tell you) but finance industry is miniscule, with just a few private client satellite offices in Belfast. Most people interested in finance as a career move away from there. I know of what I speak as my monikor refers to both my current abode and my longstanding support for the (formerly) mighty Glentoran! Still recomend you do the CISI just not sure where it'll take you in NI, maybe a role with an investment orientated IFA?

Good luck anyway.

 

[Aston1st]

For my two pennies worth.

1st Have an idea of what you want to do in the City. Then go for the CFA: ).

I was in the Army many years ago. Without any decent qualifications, on leaving the Army spent several years studying for a Degree then professional qualifications. After which almost without exception, every interview for a job I attended my military service come up for discussion, (more out of interest from the interviewer). No interviewer was interested in what Degree or Professional qualifications I had, often wondered why I bothered with them.

In short, work out what career path in the City you wish to do then do the qualification that is relevant. You military Service will open the Doors not the Qualifications, they will help.

As for networking , the Regimental Tie is a great conversation opener to those that know.

Good luck. If you have to give a years notice that will be plenty of time to obtain the qualifications what with annual leave, disembarkation leave and what have you.