Narrator:
From the New York Stock Exchange at the corner of Wall and Broad Streets in New York City, welcome inside the Ice House. Our podcast from Intercontinental Exchange is your go-to for the latest on markets, leadership, vision, and business.
For over 230 years, the NYSE has been the beating heart of global growth. Each week, we bring you inspiring stories of innovators, job creators, and the movers and shakers of capitalism here at the NYSE and ICEs exchanges around the world. Now, let's go inside the Ice House. Here's your host, Kristen Scholer.
Kristen Scholer:
The M&A dealmaking landscape has rebounded in 2025, with improving market conditions, interest rates that have remained stable, and increased CEO confidence, fueling a resurgence in activity. Major buyers are leading the charge, prioritizing deals that help drive growth, expand capabilities, and gain competitive advantages. Houlihan Lokey, that's NYSE ticker symbol, HLI, stands at the top of the dealmaking world, recently ranking first in global M&A volume.
Just over a year into his tenure as CEO, our guest today, Scott Adelson, is showing that steady leadership and deep institutional knowledge are a formula for success. Under his guidance, the firm is bolstering its global reach, strengthening industry verticals, and focusing in on creating long-term value. Scott, thanks so much for joining us inside the Ice House.
Scott Adelson:
Thrilled to be here today. Thanks so much for having me.
Kristen Scholer:
This year marks the 10th anniversary of Houlihan Lokey's listing on the New York Stock Exchange. As you reflect on that journey, how has the firm transformed since its IPO in August of 2015, both in terms of strategic direction and organizational growth?
Scott Adelson:
It's really nice feedback here. I thought about that driving up today, thinking, wow, it has been 10 years since I've been in this building, and it's amazing how much we've changed as an organization. I can clearly say that being listed on the New York Stock Exchange has been the single best branding exercise we've ever had, really, even outside the US, more than inside the US, what it has meant when you begin a discussion, explaining that we are listed on the stock exchange, and be able to articulate our market cap.
It just begins the dialogue in a very different manner than having to explain who we are to people that are maybe less familiar with us. It's been a fantastic journey.
Kristen Scholer:
Yeah. Over the course of a decade, markets have experienced a lot of change, which I know that you're privy to, from geopolitical uncertainty, and economic volatility, to the rise certainly of new technologies. How has Houlihan Lokey responded to unexpected shifts since its listing, allowing the firm not just to maintain success, but really to grow at a substantial rate?
Scott Adelson:
We're incredibly fortunate. Since long before we went public, we were really built for virtually any market environment. Obviously, over the course of a decade, you see many different market environments, but as long as capital is moving in one direction or another, and there's only been probably two periods of time in very short windows where capital has froze up during that 10-year period where we saw a dislocation for a period of time.
Other than that, we've been very fortunate to either see success in our restructuring business, success in our M&A and capital solutions business, either way, and meanwhile, our valuation, our FBA business continues to do well regardless of markets. We've been very fortunate on that.
Kristen Scholer:
You've been part of the Houlihan Lokey team since 1987, and over the course of those decades have grown from position to position, and culminating in being named CEO in 2024. Scott, take us back to the months leading up to day one almost 40 years ago. What's sparked your interest in investment banking, and more specifically that first position with Houlihan Lokey?
Scott Adelson:
Very different organization at the time, call it 30, 40 people basically in one quarter of one floor in a firm in Los Angeles. Very different than today with offices all over the world, and thousands of colleagues all over the world. Very, very different place, and I can't sit here and tell you that it was something that I had envisioned I would be doing for this long or anywhere near it.
In fact, I clearly remember telling Kit Lokey, one of the founders at the time, I had been an entrepreneur prior to going to graduate school, and that I was going to go start another company in a couple of years, and he said, "Great, give me a good couple of years." I learned how wonderful it was to work in an environment with incredibly talented people, and have never looked back, and it's all because of the people.
Kristen Scholer:
Wow. What sparked your interest in investment banking, Scott, and more specifically, that first position with Houlihan?
Scott Adelson:
Yeah, I tell a lot of people this story. I'm not sure I was really planning on telling it on a podcast, but I will tell it anyway. It was not a great deal of thought. I had been, as I said, an entrepreneur prior to going to graduate school, and I came out at a good time and had a lot of choices. I went for a walk one night with a friend of mine, happened to walk by Houlihan Lokey's offices.
Literally I looked and said, "It's walking distance from my house. I'll work there." I was not more thought put into it than that, because I really didn't think it was a significant decision at the time, and it has obviously all worked out incredibly well.
Kristen Scholer:
It's been amazing to follow you-
Scott Adelson:
Yes, yes. It's been an amazing journey, amazing journey, and it is all about the people.
Kristen Scholer:
Amazing. Well, in an industry and modern day environment where employee turnover is frequent, your long tenure at Houlihan Lokey is unique. What kept you motivated and committed to the organization over the long haul, including the people?
Scott Adelson:
Fortunately for us, it's not just me. It is an amazing thing about Houlihan Lokey is that we have a tremendous number of, people who aren't quite as tenured as I am at this point. We have a few that are more tenured, but not many. We do have tremendous longevity. Part of it, I would attribute to our culture, and one of the pieces of that culture is a culture of growth that creates opportunities for colleagues coming up through the organization.
That commitment to being a growing business that gives them new intellectual opportunities, new economic opportunities, all of that is a big part of it.
Kristen Scholer:
How has your sense of purpose evolved as the firm itself has grown in scale, scope, and influence?
Scott Adelson:
The truth is I think that our ability to impact it has changed. The sense of purpose has not changed. I think that we have, I was just telling our incoming class, which I spoke to earlier today, actually, a couple hundred of our new bright smiling analysts in associate class was coming in today. In our mission statement, it talks about giving caring advice, and I'm pretty sure there are not a lot of investment banks with that in their mission statement.
I think it defines us in many ways, and I think that that desire to give back to the communities that we're involved in, to really have our clients be heard, not just listen to them, and all of that from the beginning of the organization, obviously, our ability to implement that on a much larger scale today, is very different, but those tenors of that have always been consistent.
Kristen Scholer:
You're still young in your tenure as CEO. Stepping into the role just over a year ago, as we've discussed here, every new CEO does bring with them a unique perspective, and of course, priorities even when they've been employed by a company for decades. What were some of your key priorities coming into the role, and how have those priorities taken shape in the past year?
Scott Adelson:
It's a great question, and one honestly that investors ask quite a bit, but it's a boring answer. The truth is, there are really four of us that had been running the company for a very long time, and it is more changing seats at a table than anything else. If people didn't like it before, they're not going to like it now, and if they liked it before, they're going to like it now.
It's really is just much more of the same. Obviously, we kept even the name is same, Scott Beiser, Scott Adelson, so we didn't even change names on people, and so that part is very much kind of business as usual.
Kristen Scholer:
With a business as complex and global as Houlihan Lokey, how do you ensure the firm stays agile enough to perform in the present without losing sight on how markets, clients, and of course, talent needs can evolve in the next five to 10 years?
Scott Adelson:
Yeah, that obviously is something that's incredibly important, and that is always evolving, but a culture of entrepreneurship I think has been pervasive throughout our organization for a very long time. Just if you really think about culture overall, that in a professional service business, I personally believe that that is the single most important component of it.
Ensuring that we maintain that culture the best way we possibly can all over the world is super important. That is something when you have been growing as much as we have, and be both hiring, bringing up through the organization, hiring from outside, and acquiring all at the same time, that is a major focus of one of the things that I do.
Kristen Scholer:
In 2024, Houlihan Lokey is recognized as the top investment bank globally by volume of M&A transactions. Now that we're into the summer of 2025, a year marked by notable economic fluctuations, how would you characterize the current tone of the dealmaking landscape?
Scott Adelson:
In spite of the choppiness and uncertainty that clearly exists, markets have been phenomenally resilient. I think we've been saying for a while that it's been getting better quarter by quarter, not month by month, and certainly not week by week, because there have been some step backs along the way that it is just progressively getting better.
We are far from a completely robust environment, but we are into normal range, I would call it. At the same time, from our perspective, we still have an elevated restructuring environment, and so all of that is pretty consistent from our perspective.
Kristen Scholer:
Scott, are the fundamentals in place for a more active deal market the rest of the year?
Scott Adelson:
A year is a very long time in the environment we've been in, and certainly, as we have seen, there can be fits and starts to things, but I can certainly say that those animal spirits that we saw earlier in the year do appear to be coming back. The general environment is much more receptive than it has been over the last couple months.
Kristen Scholer:
As transactions grow in both sides and complexity, client demands are evolving alongside them. How is Houlihan Lokey continuing to adapt its M&A advisory model to ensure that it remains aligned with what today's clients need?
Scott Adelson:
Yeah, I think that one of the things that we are very focused on is that we are different than most of our public peers and that we are more mid-cap focused, which accounts for about 98% of all deal activity in any given year. That is a fundamental difference. In addition to that difference, we're very vertically focused on a global basis, so we really bring to bear global vertical industry teams, not just a business services team, not just a marketing services team.
They call it a pharma marketing services team. That deep, deep sector knowledge, we run across about 200 sector verticals where we have dedicated people today, and we see that growing over time and growing globally, that that is really how we are offering a differentiated service to our clients in many ways.
Kristen Scholer:
In your view, what separates a transactional advisor from a true strategic partner?
Scott Adelson:
Listening. Honestly, it is building a deep relationship, and listening, and really understanding the needs of those clients over a period of time, not just in that given moment. It is something that we strive to do on a regular basis is really grow with our clients, in many cases, from relatively small organizations to very meaningful organizations over time, and to be there with them every step along the way for the good parts or the not as good parts.
Whether you're talking about a M&A capital solutions opportunity, whether you're talking about restructuring any of those elements, but really through the life cycle of businesses.
Kristen Scholer:
A firm's future depends not just on market strategy, but on its people and the culture that carries it forward. How have you still, early in your tenure as CEO, worked to ensure that the firm's values and culture remain strong as Houlihan Lokey continues to scale?
Scott Adelson:
It is something that I spend a tremendous amount of time on, as I was saying earlier. That is something that the best way is by leading by example, and helping people understand really what the business does stand for. Part of it is gathering people together on a very regular basis to get to know each other and understand, so there can be that transfer of DNA. A benefit is that we do run these global businesses, and so people are interacting on a regular basis, not completely siloed on a geographic basis or anything like that.
Obviously, we make a number of acquisitions. That's part of our business strategy, and the first, second, and third screen on every one of those acquisitions is culture. We really do believe that it's incredibly important, and we are very careful to protect what we've built.
Kristen Scholer:
Well, the financial services industry is evolving rapidly from the rise of AI and data-driven analytics. Two shifts in client expectations. How is Houlihan Lokey preparing to adapt and lead in this next phase of industry and transformation?
Scott Adelson:
We feel incredibly fortunate that we are at the scale we are at this point in time. We, doing more transactions than any other firm in the world, doing more restructurings than anybody else in the world, doing more valuations than anybody else gives us a enormous amount of information.
Those data sets that we have, we believe, in an AI-driven world, really will allow us to make better decisions on behalf of our clients and ourselves, and we have those statistically significant data sets to enable us to do that.
Kristen Scholer:
Scott, as you look ahead to the next chapter in Houlihan Lokey's story, what is your long-term vision for where the firm is headed, whether that's in terms of market leadership, service offerings, or global reach?
Scott Adelson:
I really like the businesses we are in. I don't think we're going to be in any new meaningful businesses, but I think there's tremendous growth opportunity in every single one of our businesses. We are a firm that is really committed to taking advantage of that opportunity that we see that exists to continue to grow, both in the US and in the rest of the world across our product lines.
Kristen Scholer:
Scott, thanks so much for joining us inside the Ice House.
Scott Adelson:
Thank you so much for having me. It's great to be back.
Kristen Scholer:
Great to have you.
Narrator:
That's our conversation for this week. Remember to rate, review, and subscribe wherever you listen, and follow us on X at Ice House Podcast. From the New York Stock Exchange, we'll talk to you again next week inside the Ice House. Information contained in this podcast was obtained in part from publicly available sources and not independently verified.
Neither Ice nor its affiliates make any representations or warranties expressed or implied as to the accuracy or completeness of the information, and do not sponsor, approve, or endorse any of the content herein, all of which is presented solely for informational and educational purposes. Nothing herein constitutes an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy any security, or a recommendation of any security or trading practice. Some portions of the preceding conversation may have been edited for the purpose of length or clarity.
