Guggenheim (M&A) vs. Houlihan Lokey (Restructuring) for Summer Analyst

Don't know too much about Guggenheim (I assume it is a decent MM M&A shop), but I would lean towards HLHZ because of their reputation in restructuring. HLHZ analysts tend to exit to distressed shops like oaktree or debt related opportunities because of the amount of exposure you get to debt. So you will get good looks for HF and distressed PE if you choose this route. I have heard the LA office being a bit intense, but the people I have met were really chill so I think the culture is good at least in the junior level. Also if you are interested in law, there will be a good exposure of that at HLHZ.

Source: I went through SA recruiting too last month and these were my impressions - take with a grain of salt

Houlihan Restructuring. I was in a restructuring as a banker so I may be biased, but it gives you the best experience as a analyst. Exposure to credit agreements, industry groups, balance sheet restructurings, turnaround situations, M&A, etc. Plus the reputation of HLHZ restructuring group is top notch.

Thanks for the input. Does anyone have any knowledge of exit opps for Guggenheim? It's relatively new but it seems to be growing pretty fast. Also, both these positions are for NYC office.

Thanks for the input. Does anyone have any knowledge of exit opps for Guggenheim? It's relatively new but it seems to be growing pretty fast. Also, both these positions are for NYC office.

Disclaimer: Going to Guggenheim for SA so I am biased.

From what I gather Guggenheim is probably the fastest or one of the fastest growing banks on the street. They're certainly not a MM shop and way closer to an EB if not definitely an EB. They're known for their healthcare and TMT groups and deal flow across the firm is really strong. Last year they were the lead adviser on the $130bn Verizon deal, which was the 3rd largest M&A deal in history so take that for what it's worth. I hear exit opps to buyside are really solid, but I don't know any specifics.

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I never talked with people who interned at HLHZ, but I talked with two people who interested at Guggenheim. They both left to EBs after internship at Guggenheim. They both told me culture at Guggenheim was not that great. From what I heard, Senior people at Guggenheim did not really care about junior analysts. (not only interns, ft analysts as well.)

Yeah thanks for the advice. My concern is that right now is not the best time for restructuring but M&A is really hot. Does anybody have any info on FT offer rate for interns, hours per week for analysts, bonus amount, etc. for these two shops? Also, for exit opps, I hear HLHZ typically places well into distressed HF/PE but I feel like those are not doing well because if the economic recovery. Can’t find anything on exit opps for Guggenheim does anybody know of specific examples?

HLHZ RX

While HL RX is good, it will pigeonhole you to distressed debt in the future - Also HLHZ brand is mostly and MM brand with kind of a funny name. Guggenheim is really good and very underrated on this forum. It has really risen in only a couple of years and the future looks bright - actually know a couple guys who were analysts at Guggenheim and went to some great PE shops afterwards so apparently they place well too.

At the entry level - its best to always choose the option that gives you the most optionality and then to specialize later once you have experienced what you like and don't like. Guggenheim will probably provide you the better optionality for FT or if you choose to stay on for exit opps.

This is a tough one...full disclaimer, I may be a bit biased toward Houlihan as well since I was in Rothschild RX group way back when. The WSO Company Database can give us some valuable info here:

#1. % of Interns Getting FT Offer - Advantage = Guggenheim - It looks like Guggenheim has a very strong offer rate to interns in the 90%-100% range.
- Houlihan historically seems to be in the 50-80% range - In fact, if you check out our rankings, Guggenheim ranked #1 in this category across ALL investment banks (Houlihan #10, so not that bad) http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/best-investment-banks-for-career-…

This matters because landing a FT position is probably the ultimate goal of a summer analyst.

#2. Hours - Advantage = Draw - Looks like both of these banks work their employees pretty hard. Houlihan comes in at #9 on the avg hours worked and Guggenheim comes in not far behind at #12 (see here: http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/2014-best-investment-banks-lifest…) ...both also ranked near the bottom in terms of "work/life balance"

#3 Career - Advancement - Advantage = Houlihan - Houlihan cracked the top 10 for both Professional Growth (#3) and Career Advancement (#8), so I have to give them the nod here, even though Guggenheim has done some mega deals lately that are very impressive. Houlihand has a bit more of a track record, especially for good exit opps of analysts.

So for a summer analyst gig, you might be tempted to take Guggenheim given their attractive intern offer rates, but if you're confident that you can beat our your fellow summers for a spot, long term I think Houlihan has the better name and reputation (and RX groups is top for them).

Either way, best of luck with this tough decision...both firms are super well regarded and solid shops! Patrick

Pretty obvious from the username that we have a fellow hoo here ;) good luck buddy

Had a close friend who worked at Guggenheim - his views were: culture was poor (senior bankers rarely interact with junior bankers if at all), exit opportunities exist but poor (have to be very impressive for headhunters to provide MM PE opportunities; no MF placement), upside was tons of snacks and office is new / looks nice