Houlihan Lokey CF vs Citi / Barclays
Hi, I'm new to this forum I need help deciding between offers. I just switched from a pre-med to econ / business at my school and so I'm not sure about the differences between banks.
I have Houlihan and Citi offers right now and both are in NY. I had a superday with Barclays and I'm waiting on hearing back. Houlihan is for their corporate finance IBD group and Citi is a general offer. I'm not too excited about going to a big bulge bracket bank and I really like the close-knit feel of an EB like Houlihan. From my interviews, I think I would fit in the best with HL and really liked the culture there.
Can anyone tell me more about comp, exit opportunities, lifestyle, & experience for these three banks?
Bump
Do a search before posting. These kind of decisions have already been talked about even recently.
At Citi / Barcap you will work with larger clients and the BB name is known well in and outside of finance. Less access to senior bankers than at smaller banks. Exits are similar across both banks as they both place well into MM PE, HF, Corp Dev and sometimes into upper MM / MFs.
At HL CF you will work mostly with middle market clients. Not well known outside of finance. You will have much leaner deal teams and better exposure to your client's C-Suite even as an analyst. More access senior bankers. HL CF feeds very well into MM PE and Corp Dev.
Generally the bigger the bank the better but HL is a prestigious boutique so it depends on what factors you prefer.
Thanks qwertyzxc
I got Barclays as well. Bump. Can anyone else weigh in?
Well if you liked HL better then go there. Everyone acts like one bank is going to provide you the golden keys to the kingdom and the other is going to relegate you to some obscure shitty PE shop in Idaho. There are guys out of HL that have made it Cerberus, Blackstone, etc. If you liked the people then go for it.
HL is really prestigious boutique and people take it all the time over lower / mid BBs. They have great exits too. It's known to be a really tough place to get an offer from and they are really picky about who they want so congrats!
Definitely take the HL offer especially if you like the culture and people better.
HL CF's exit options are questionable at best. If you plan on headhunter's to be hitting your email box, I would advise against HL. I would take Barlcays over Citi if they are both generalists/haven't been placed, but that is just my opinion.
How did you get these offers so late? Is this SA?
Didn't realize Blackstone, Cerberus, Compass, Google M&A, Platinum Equity, Salient, etc. were questionable, but ok...
@baat32 obviously has no idea what he is talking about.
Some exits out of HL CF include Linden, Moelis PE, MS PE, Carlyle, HIG, IGP, Sterling, Saban, & Point72.
These are all very good places and solid MM funds. HL CF is the top MM M&A practice out there and because people take it over lower/mid BBs all the time, you can bet they'll get solid looks on the buyside.
Biggers fund exits are usually for good groups like Industrials, Consumer, M&T, and ADG.
ADG is the only one of the above mentioned groups that has good exit opps, and there it's mostly into that sector of PE.
Yes, it's true that every few years, a group at HL will send someone to a MF, etc., but that is the exception. I know many people in consumer, industrials, and M&T, (except Mesa) that haven't thought about making their exits until 3-4 months are left in their 2 year stints... this is because they do not get headhunter looks like analysts in the bulge bracket.
Also, if working with large companies is something you value at all, HL will not provide that. It gets very annoying selling companies for $200mm over and over again. Check their tombstones out.
But hey I've only worked there...
Haha, don't get head hunter looks? Are you joking? If you couldn't convert your time there into at least some amazing interviews that's on you my friend. Sounds like a mediocre analyst whose pissy Carlyle didn't give him an offer after a phone screen.
HL isn't really an EB-- it's a top MM (this is CF, not RX). That being said, if you liked the team and prefer the tight-knit feel you should 100% take HL CF over the BB's (culture is way more important than the credit people on this forum give). Its Industrials team has solid placement and you can get into great firms out of HL CF. However, don't delude yourself into thinking that you'll be more strongly positioned for exit opp's than a BB bank...
I think HL is definitely an EB. At my school, people take HL CF over some BBs and boutiques all the time because it's viewed as a much tougher place to get an offer from than a Citi, for example. These guys are way more selective when handing out offers compared to most other banks.
In general I think banks like Harris Williams & Houlihan Lokey are much better places to be than many BBs and boutiques out there. They have tremendous cache on the buy side and are viewed very favorably.
I've had friends that got offers from JP and Moelis get flat out rejected by HL. If it's not an EB it definitely has the pull of one and is considered prestigious enough that people are consistently taking offers there over other top banks.
I wasn't classifying EB's by selectivity (not saying I agree or disagree with your statement on that, but that's another discussion.) You'd generally look at the deals that the banks are on. EB's tend to compete with BB's on larger deals. HL CF and HW, while great firms, primarily work with middle market companies.
Regardless, to OP, you'll have decent exit opps at either bank (refer to qwertyzxc's post.) Sounds like you'd enjoy it more with the HL team, so I would honestly choose that. You're going to be spending the majority of your next two years with these people so you'd better enjoy your time.
I agree with the selectivity comment: HL is definitely more selective than a Citi or a Barclays for sure. They recruit at a much narrower range of schools that have strong UG BSchools, have less open spots, and are not very open to non-targets. They have very technical interviews and seem to attract very high-quality talent from their target schools.
Any which way you classify it, they definitely are a prestigious boutique. HL CF specifically does top brass MM deals but has been expanding and hiring aggressively after their IPO and they seem to get on larger deals with each passing year. Both HW & HL CF consistently send their analysts to good MM PE shops. These two are definitely the places to be if you like the MM space.
I have friends at HL CF in NY / LA who love it there and are getting good looks for buyside opportunities.
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