Is CFA a career changing option? experience, investment, Business

eagles_dare13

Hi guys,
I am basically a Chartered Accountant, at the moment a Shattered Accountant!
I need a bailout in the form of your opinions and thoughts:
I have around 10+ years experience in the financial services sector around 6+ years as Accounts/Financeincharge of a financial services company and the next 4+ years as a IT Business Analyst with various investment banks.
I am slightly confused because I am getting conflicting advice from people on these questions:
1. Whether a CFA charter will add any value to my career at this stage i.e. given the fact that I already have 10+ years experience?
2. I guess I will be getting a charter immediately after clearing Level3 since I have relevant 6+ years of accounting experience.
3. Once I qualify, do I need to start from scratch or will I get due consideration for my accounting or Business Analysis experience which I admit may not be too relevant from a CFA point of view?
4. Is there any way I can leverage my 10+ years experience (including 4 years in ITl) while getting into a research or a portfolio manager position?
5. If I were to start from scratch, I guess I have to be prepared for a ‘massive’ undercutting as far as comp package is concerned, isn’t it? Mine is currently at 65k+ British pound sterling per annum
I want to use CFA as an option to get into research while at the same time I want the employer to give due weightage to my huge experience as well. Is this possible or am I living in a utopian world?
Thanks,