Houlihan Lokey reputation (2020)
Haven’t found a good, up-to-date thread on HL.
Anyone have any info on the place? I’ve heard the culture is great but what about exit ops, compensation, top groups (I know Rx is one)..
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HL is easily one of the most underrated banks on Wall Street. Insanely good RX group that’s often considered the best creditor side advisor on the street. In their corporate finance division, some of the top groups are Industrials, CFR, and Business Services. Full disclosure, while the industrial group has solid deal flow and is great for going the PE route, it can be pretty sweaty at times. On the bright side, they’re on the same floor as the TMT group and they just worked on a deal for Sports Illustrated. In terms of exits a lot of the RX bankers go the distressed PE/HF route, but regularly place at MFs as well. Corporate finance bankers tend to go vanilla MM PE firms, but you have a few go into HFs or the entrepreneurship route. A couple ex-HL bankers actually started Suited, an AI powered recruiting network (www.wellsuited.com). Their corporate partners include: HL, PJT, Lazard, and a few others.
In terms of culture, I won’t give the usual bs answer. In complete honesty, culture at HL (like every other bank) is 100% group dependent. In general though, people tend to be happy (as much as you can be in banking) with the work environment and respectful of their peers. A bunch of really smart guys and gals there, but those hooligans also know how to have a good time. Sure, HL doesn’t have the name recognition of a Goldman or JPM, but if you’re looking for a solid IB experience, with the opportunity to actually learn by working on deals and not just pitching, be surrounded by solid people, and have buyside exit opportunities, I’d say Houlihan Lokey is a great place to consider.
Strong MM second to only Jefferies but still weaker than all the BBs. RX is an entirely different story and they shouldn't be compared. RX group is one of the strongest on the entire street. Fun Fact: despite being on the same floor as other HL groups,they even have a higher seamless budget. That should tell you something right there lol
Arguably better than UBS in most verticals and DB in 1-2
No. HL competes in the pure MM for its coverage groups. You can’t compare it to UBS as they really only play in the above $1bb range. HL churns out a purely obscene number of deals at smaller transaction sizes. Not even remotely close to a business model as Jefferies or the BBs.
Very new group - exclusively focused on E&P restructurings to my knowledge. Been on energy restructurings with NY and Dallas HL offices on the other side, so really not sure how deal flow is split between the offices, but I'd imagine the more technically intensive debtor sides are run out of Houston.
Obviously with HL FRG's rep, its a solid option, but I would probably choose a more established EB over it.
Have friends in HL CF and can confirm that bonus is definitely higher than those at BBs