MSF/CFA

I would say that if you are currently an IB analyst there is little to no value added by leaving your position to go back to school for a MSF. If you are in ER then go for your CFA.

If you are an IB analyst & want to transition to the buy side, then the best bet is to do a CFA & network with buy side clients to break into the field. This would be the best in terms of providing you solid academic background (as sofib09 said... for a fundamentals-focused HF). MSFs are general...& in the current economy hiring sucks at schools. MBAs still show some hiring..but it is too broad an education (my personal opinion). If you are interested in quant HFs then look at MS financial engineering programs (Princeton, Tepper/CMU). They have decent hiring too.

I'm trying to break into IB right now. I've recently graduated with the MSF from a non-target and had VERY little luck with recruitment this past fall. I've taken level 1 and I'm waiting for results. If I pass, awesome. If not, I'll possibly try it again in June while trying to network my ass off with smaller banks in the area (hopes of landing an internship or an off cycle analyst hire if lucky). My reasoning behind sitting for the CFA is to show during the interview process that I wasn't waiting around for next recruiting season doing nothing.

I think that would be better accomplished through continued networking and asking about available opportunities.

However, I wouldn't consider it a total waste of time. I'm taking CFA Level 1 myself, but it's mostly because I got a scholarship to pay for it.