Someone suggested that you can be too old to start in equity research. I started in equity research when I was 37 and went on to be a top ranked regional analyst. In fact, the reason I was hired in the first place was the 15 years of industry knowlege that I had accumulated. Fund managers respected that background and it was key in my success. I acquired 100% of my finance ability on the job.

There are dozens upon dozens of young university/MBA graduates starting in bulge bracket research firms, yet there is an extreme shortage of senior analysts who can demand extraordinary pay. The reason for this shortage is that most newbies in equity research fail to succeed and wander off to other departments like corporate finance, ecm, sales, trading etc.

Why do newbie analysts fail? Its because 50% of the job is a marketing job. Its no longer sufficient to make calls and write the research. You have to personally deliver it to the market. The technical part is pretty much a given that you can master it, but what most analysts can't master is convincing fund managers to vote for them in internal and external polls.

If you are considering the front office in a bulge bracket investment bank, do start in equity research. Even if you fail as most do, it is good training for moving to other departments, particularly the discipline of getting in at 7am and leaving at midnight. Don't worry about your age, because they take in all sorts. If you enter as a mature analyst with deep industry experience, you have a much higher probability of making it compared to the 90% attrition rate of the management associates and interns.