If someone wants to move from the back office to an analyst job, moving to an internal wholesaler job won’t hurt or help. Basically, in this job market, you are F’ed. It’s not going to happen. You are better off trying to figure out how to get into a top b-school.
Hoever, after being an internal you could move to many different positions, some more analytical than others. You can become a product specialist, where the CFA is valued, or platform distribution sales (more institutional) or product management (more marketing). None of these are the same as being an anlyst, but can be $200K+ type jobs (not the marketing jobs).
Sweep the leg’s salary ranges are accurate, if you are an external wholesaler making only $200k something is very wrong. An experienced wholesaler in a major metro area makes around $400k on average with a significant SD. In a lot of firms the sales guys make more than analysts or PMs. The unfortunate reality is that there are a lot smart number crunchers but only so many people with the communication skills to sell a product. Just food for thought.