Associate – Portfolio Valuation and Fund Advisory Services

Job Description

Overview

Financial And Valuation Advisory

Portfolio Valuation

Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) is a leading global investment bank recognized for delivering independent strategic and financial advice to corporations, financial sponsors, and governments. With uniquely deep industry expertise, broad international reach, and a partnership approach rooted in trust, the firm provides innovative, integrated solutions across mergers and acquisitions, capital solutions, financial restructuring, and financial and valuation advisory. Our unmatched transaction volumes provide differentiated, data-driven perspectives that help our clients achieve their most critical goals. To learn more about Houlihan Lokey, please visit HL.com.

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, investors, and business owners we serve. In 2025, LSEG ranked us the No. 1 global M&A fairness opinion advisor over the past 25 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.

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.

We offer a unique opportunity to work on a wealth of projects that provide exposure to various financial and valuation advisory challenges, including the valuation of complex businesses, securities, and transaction structures. As an Associate in our Portfolio Valuation Practice, you will play a key role on our engagement teams, which typically comprise at least one Managing Director, Vice President, Associate and one or more Financial Analysts. Your primary activities will include valuing debt, equity and structured securities; presenting analyses and conclusions internally to review committees and externally to the senior management and boards of directors of clients and to fiduciaries; designing and drafting client deliverables; constructing and reviewing valuation and other financial models; performing financial statement, industry and other quantitative and qualitative assessments; attending due diligence meetings; communicating with client personnel; assisting with sales and marketing initiatives; and directing the efforts of financial analysts.

Responsibilities

Supporting portfolio valuation teams, which provide valuations of illiquid debt and equity securities held by hedge funds, private equity funds, and business development companies in connection with fair value reporting of the funds’ assets to investors;
Assisting in the preparation of fee proposals to clients, including scoping discussions, pitch materials, and internal engagement pricing committee memoranda;
Participating in deal team brainstorming discussions, preparing information request lists, designing, and drafting client deliverables;
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;
Directing the efforts of financial analysts and checking their work product to ensure the delivery of an accurate and thorough work product within the required timeframe;
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;
Assisting in the preparation of pitch materials and information request lists to clients
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;
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;

Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree (in Finance a plus)
Minimum of 3-5+ years of valuation experience
Strong analytical abilities
Excellent verbal and written communication skills

Preferred Qualifications

The environment at Houlihan Lokey is collegial and entrepreneurial and, as such, rewards Associates with substantial responsibility and interaction with senior-level professionals and clients. The ideal candidate thinks strategically, is motivated, detail oriented, creative, outgoing, and possesses strong quantitative skills.

Excellent understanding of financial statements analysis with the ability to work through key assumptions, implicit caveats, and limitations.
A fundamental understanding of financial valuation theory, methodologies, and applications
Strong knowledge of Excel modeling
Demonstrated ability to work cooperatively with team members.
Ability to work independently in a fast-paced environment.
An exceptional work ethic.
Experience at Big Four or an Independent Valuation Advisory firm a plus.

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