RMontgomery

Bsc2010, I think your biggest obstacle is simply timing. With banks laying off 100,000+ employees this year, there simply aren't that many opportunities for career progression in finance.

At some point in the future (2013? 2014? 2015?) the market for financial services employees will swing back to the way things were in 1999 and 2006, and banks will again be scrambling for employees.

At that point, you'll have a much easier time making the change that you describe.