Harris Williams vs. Houlihan Lokey
Which firm do you guys think is better at the analyst level in terms of deal flow, prestige, private equity exit opps, comp and overall?
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HLHZ. No frickin' doubt!
Next question....
HL
HLHZ, if M&A or Restructuring. If HLHZ is FAS, then HW.
However, HW wins on culture. HLHZ has some pretty long hours, especially for a MM.
what's not FAS?
Not quite sure what you mean.
FAS is Financial Advisory Services. That group does some small deals, but mostly due diligence and fairness opinions. It doesn't provide the same skill set at M&A or Restructuring. Still has long hours.
It's worth mentioning HLHZ also has the best credit side restructuring group on the street.
HL is a top MM,. No brainer
HW gets you a PE job for sure though.
The MD's bat .980
wtf is harris williams
They're the guys who rejected your application..
I meant why not FAS ... woops. so FAS is less than ideal for trying to get into PE after?
As was mentioned, if you want to get into PE, Harris Williams is top notch. Their MDs really go to bat for the analysts. I wish I could say the same for HLHZ
All joking aside, you will 95% get a PE job from HW. Everyone rips on their MD's having better batting averages than handicaps on the links, but it is for good reason. I know one MD who only hits home runs
It depends on where you want to live. If you want to live in NYC, you gotta go with Houlihan. That said, Harris Williams is a PE feeder, if you care about that. You can get into PE out of HL as well (I know people who have, personally.)
I don't think HL has historically been a huge feeder into PE until fairly recently. You won't get into a huge fund, but sub $1 billion is definitely doable (and really realistic.) Harris Williams could place at bigger shops, but I'm not sure. Either way, it's all the same bullshit anyway.
Houlihan!
Yeah I guess PE placement would the biggest factor for me
Nvm.
HL if restructuring, HW if M&A
do not go into M&A in HL...you will be in for a real shock of what a "top" MM is
HW....The MD's really go to bat for their analysts!! (At least thats what HR told me)
Houlihan Lokey.
HL has the best restructuring practice, by far. They do some pretty huge deals on that domain. So I think you will have more "prestige" at HL, even if you are doing M&A.
HW barley pitches for M&A, clients come to them for deals. So if you are not into cranking pitchbooks everyday then HW is the place to be.
It would be a tough choice for me if location/group wasn't an issue. But it almost always is, so I'd go with where you want to live, what group you want, and who you got along with the most. Like TheKing said its pretty much the same shit at the end of the day.
also, HL pays slightly below street in M&A groups (not true for restructuring). But I've heard that is changing to attract more talent.
HW&CO
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