Houlihan Lokey M&A vs JP Morgan Global Corporate Bank

Both for analyst positions. Which one would you pick and what would be the arguments for or against? Many thanks for fruitful advice. I am quite confused, since both choices are quite different.

Houlihan Lokey has extensive expertise in mergers, acquisitions and divestitures for a broad range of clients—and our experience in M&A has earned us recognition throughout the industry. In 2010, Thomson Reuters ranked our firm the No.1 M&A advisor for U.S. transactions under $1 billion. Houlihan Lokey is an international, advisory-focused investment bank with 14 offices throughout the United States, Europe and Asia. We’re dedicated to serving as your advocate, providing strategic insights and resources to help you realize your business objectives.

JPMorgan Chase: The Global Corporate Bank manages the firm’s relationships with large corporations, financial institutions and public sector organizations globally to solve problems for clients and help them to grow. We help our clients meet their objectives and challenges in financing, risk management, working capital, cash management and investments. Clients benefit from dedicated coverage provided by experienced corporate bankers, who deliver the firm's extensive product platform and presence in more than 60 countries worldwide. We leverage the capital strength of JPMorgan Chase and extend credit to help clients grow their business.

 
Best Response

I prefer M&A and I have previously interned at a BB. In fact, from the BBs I only would consider GS, MS and JPM and apart from that only boutiques such as Greenhill, Evercore and HL due to better deal exposure as an analyst. I am very much excited by HL. The firm is rapidly expanding and has a very good culture and reputation in the market . But now suddenly this opportunity with Corporate Banking with JPM came along. The thing is that is also a matter of top BB vs top MM M&A boutique, which is quite confusing. I am also waiting to hear from some others. And both choices are so different and thus difficult to compare. How easy would it be to switch from corporate banking to M&A? And how would the exit opportunities be for JPM corporate banking? What do you mean a better firm? I have heard HL is quite prestigious.

 

Top BB in a Middle Office role won't get you anywhere... stick w/ the M&A job.

Think of it this way, you MAYBE have a chance to interview for a JPM IBD position as a 3rd year analyst if you are a star in your corporate banking job. If you are an M&A analyst at HL, no way you don't at least get interviews with M&A groups across the street (3rd year analysts are some heavily sought after at all banks).

 

JPM: Corporate Banking isn't middle office. You are still dealing with clients. It's just a shittier front office. M&A >> corporate banking even at a bottom-tier MM.

HLHZ: I'm not sure if this is true as I've only heard of it from others in the industry... but HLHZ tends to win M&A deals by charging much lower fees than its competitions, which strongly degrades the firm's brand name. HLHZ is well respected in restructuring, but it's M&A practice tends to be looked down upon by BB, top boutiques, headhunters, and the buy-side. Again I can't be 100% sure just rumor that I heard.

That being said, I would definitely choose HLHZ since I'm sure you'll get fantastic experiences as an analyst regardless.

 

Houlihan Lokey all the way! The firm is very reputable in middle-market M&A deals (it has specialized itself on this area), so you will surely get a good exposure in this area! Its prestige came from restructuring, however in the last year it has made some brilliant appointments to its M&A such as hiring former head of M&A of Rothschild, UBS and Lazard Asia etc and has a good deal flow and business outlook. I am sure M&A at HL will be an outstanding learning experience and you will also get much better exit ops from it as the others also mentioned. As far as IB2001 post, I would advise you not to mention or trust rumors in the first place...mentioning or building a reality on rumors or what others may have said will not make you very popular and trusthworthy in a future job position. So in case you want a solid M&A analyst experience, HL hands down.In case you prefer corporate banking, then go for JPM.simple as that. Also, from my friend who worked at HL, they tend to pay very well.

 

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