Experienced Financial Analyst/Associate, Portfolio Valuation and Fund Advisory Services (Energy & Infrastructure) - Houston, TX

Business Unit:

Financial and Valuation Advisory

Industry:

Portfolio Valuation

Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) is a global investment bank with expertise in mergers and acquisitions, capital solutions, financial restructuring, and financial and valuation advisory. Houlihan Lokey serves corporations, institutions, and governments worldwide with offices in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and the Asia-Pacific region. Independent advice and intellectual rigor are hallmarks of the firm’s commitment to client success across its advisory services. The firm is the No. 1 investment bank for all global M&A transactions for the past two years, the No. 1 M&A advisor for the past 10 years in the U.S., the No. 1 global restructuring advisor for the past 11 years, and the No. 1 global M&A fairness opinion advisor over the past 25 years, all based on number of transactions and according to data provided by LSEG.

Over the past 50 years, Houlihan Lokey has established one of the largest worldwide financial and valuation advisory practices. Our transaction expertise and leadership in the field of valuation inspire confidence in the financial executives, boards of directors, special committees, retained counsel, investors, and business owners we serve. In 2024, LSEG ranked us the No. 1 Global M&A fairness opinion advisor over the past 20 years.

Our stability, integrity, technical leadership, and global capabilities make us a trusted advisor for clients worldwide, across a wide range of services, including the Transaction Opinions, Transaction Advisory Services, Corporate Valuation Advisory Services, Portfolio Valuation and Fund Advisory Services, Real Estate Valuation and Advisory Services, and Dispute Resolution Consulting practices.

Houlihan Lokey’s PV practice is well-recognized and regarded in the alternative asset valuation community. In 2024, the PV Practice received the HFM U.S. Hedge Fund Services Awards in which Houlihan Lokey was named “Best Valuations Firm for Hard to Value Assets,” its seventh consecutive time receiving this award.  We also received this same honor in Europe in 2025 for the sixth consecutive time.  Houlihan Lokey has also received the HFM Asia Hedge Fund Services Award for “Best Valuation Firm” for the fifth consecutive time, underscoring the outstanding valuation services the firm provides its hedge fund clients around the world.

Scope

Within our Portfolio Valuation practice, our clients include many of the world’s largest hedge funds, private equity funds, direct lending funds, business development companies, among other asset managers, and we advise them on the valuations of illiquid debt, equity and complex securities in order to meet their investor and regulatory financial reporting requirements.  Our market-leading practice has a strong reputation with regulators, auditors, and investors and we rapidly mobilize the right team for the job, drawing on our expertise in a wide variety of asset classes and industries, along with our firm’s real-world transaction experience and market knowledge.

The open position is for an Experienced Financial Analyst or Associate based in the Houston office who will be dedicated to executing client engagements, particularly for the energy and infrastructure industries, as well as growing Houlihan Lokey’s Portfolio Valuation and Fund Advisory (PV) practice.  

Our Financial Valuation Advisory (FVA) practice is looking to add talented financial professionals at the Experienced Financial Analyst or Associate level to focus on managing the execution of client engagements and building out our Portfolio Valuation and Fund Advisory (PV) practice.  While the primary execution and business development focus will be for PV, all members of the FVA practice are expected to broadly facilitate our firm’s growth by cross selling other FVA, Corporate Finance, and Restructuring service offerings provided by Houlihan Lokey.

The PV-dedicated Experienced Financial Analyst or Associate in our Financial and Valuation Advisory business will be a fully integrated member of engagement teams, which can range in size from two to ten members.

Responsibilities

• Supporting FVA portfolio valuation teams, which provide valuations of illiquid debt and equity securities held by hedge funds, private credit funds, private equity funds, and business development companies in connection with fair value reporting of the funds’ assets to investors;
• Leading business and financial due diligence sessions with clients;
• Directing the efforts of Financial Analysts and reviewing their work product to ensure the delivery of an accurate and thorough work product within the required timeframe;
• Performing financial statement analysis and other quantitative and qualitative assessments;
• Reviewing client investment memoranda, board of directors’ presentations, specific debt and equity agreements, and financial models to develop an understanding of the company or securities being analyzed;
• Compiling statistical summaries of companies’ financial information, developing and computing financial ratios, and presenting the analyses in an organized manner and/or using our standard formats and presentations;
• Reviewing and compiling published financial information, such as public company filings, press releases, reports from published research analysts, and Bloomberg data across a wide range of industries and sectors, including the energy and infrastructure industry and oil and gas sector;
• Identifying relevant comparable public companies and M&A transactions within parameters established by FVA project teams, based upon information services such as S&P Capital IQ and Bloomberg, along with knowledge of the appropriate Standard Industrial Classification and other methods, as appropriate;
• Constructing and reviewing valuation and other financial analyses, including the guideline public companies, guideline precedent transactions, and discounted cash flow analyses, using Houlihan Lokey proprietary models;
• Reviewing third-party and in-house oil and gas reserves reports, understanding relevant energy industry metrics, and reviewing net asset value analyses for upstream oil and gas companies;
• Researching and providing information on (a) general economic conditions, (b) industry-specific conditions and trends, (c) acquisitions and divestitures within specific industries, and (d) various investment attributes of publicly traded and privately held securities;
• Participating in telephonic and in-person due diligence meetings/discussions, communicating with clients and responding to auditor questions regarding valuation analyses prepared by Houlihan Lokey;
• Designing and drafting client deliverables;
• Performing other ad-hoc research, analytics, and support for the FVA project teams as required;
• Presenting valuation analyses and conclusions internally and externally;
• Participating in internal discussions of key takeaways from quarterly engagements across the energy portfolios of PV clients and preparing summaries for internal and external circulation;
• Assisting in the preparation of quarterly energy market updates;
• Coordinating with internal administrative support teams to complete revenue accruals, prepare engagement invoices, working paper files, and other compliance/end-of-engagement close out procedures;
• Assisting in the preparation of fee proposals to clients, including scoping discussions, pitch materials and internal engagement pricing committee memoranda;
• Participating in discussions with in-house and outside legal counsel as required; and
• Assisting with marketing initiatives for prospective and existing clients.

Qualifications

The environment at Houlihan Lokey is aggressive and entrepreneurial and, as such, rewards Experienced Financial Analysts and Associates with substantial responsibility. The ideal candidate should be motivated, creative, commercially driven, and possess strong skills in overall project management, leading, managing, performing financial analysis, and business development. Candidates must have a strong knowledge of finance and valuation, including valuation of oil and gas assets. Candidates must also have strengths in applied financial theory, analytical capabilities, and verbal and written communication skills.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Business, or Applied Economics
• A minimum of one year of experience in valuation for experienced Financial Analysts
• A minimum of three years of experience in valuation for Associates
• Prior equity and/or debt valuation or related experience.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Advanced accounting, finance, financial modeling, and analytical abilities
• Demonstrated experience managing Analysts/Associates or other personnel.
• Entrepreneurial attitude: desire and willingness to support a growing practice and contribute across the full suite of offerings.
• Strong command of Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint and common database systems
• Highly motivated with an exceptional work ethic and demonstrated ability and desire to work cooperatively with team members and client professionals.

Preferred Qualifications

• Big Four valuation or; independent valuation consultants experience, and/or is a plus;
• Master’s degree or progress towards an advanced degree a plus; and
• CFA designation a plus.

Compensation and Benefits

Houlihan Lokey is committed to providing its employees with an exciting career opportunity and competitive total compensation package, which may include other components such as discretionary incentive compensation. The firm’s good faith and reasonable estimate of the possible salary range for this role at the time of posting is:

$85,000.00-$160,000.00

Actual salary at the time of hire may vary and may be above or below the range based on various factors, including, but not limited to, the candidate’s relevant qualifications, skills, and experience, as well as the service line and location where this position may be filled.

Houlihan Lokey provides a competitive benefits package. Our current benefits offerings can be found here:

_ We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. _

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