Working as operations, have excellent reviews. Path to AM, which skills to add?

I basically spoke with the director of my company (Top 30 bank in US) and he said it helps a lot that I am a top performer in the company to get my foot in AM, but he also said its super competitive and I need to stand out. He said Have patience/grit to get in, and also to start getting 'experience' and 'certifications' whatever this means. I asked him is that like a CFA cause I don't see how that would help, he said no, try to find a mentor or learn everything you can about AM so you go in with something to show you belong there.

So what I take from this is I need to prove my worth for the position. I'm willing to work on it in any way possible on my own time. I just need the PATH, as in, what do I LEARN, WHICH skills, so that would stand out to an AM team in an interview. I'm ready to begin learning as of right now.