---
bcp_version: "0.8"
file_type: root
brand_name: "Houlihan Lokey"
publication_profile: registry_backed
canonical_bcp: https://registry.brandcontextprotocol.dev/houlihan-lokey-f12a9db6/.well-known/brand.md
registry_mcp: https://registry.brandcontextprotocol.dev/mcp
registry_handle: "houlihan-lokey-f12a9db6"
tree_version: "1.0.0"
website: "https://hl.com"
category: "Global investment banking and financial advisory"
headquarters: "Los Angeles, California, United States"
founded: "1972"
official_brand_source: false
publication_status: demonstration
provenance: "Assembled by Encoded Brands from publicly available Houlihan Lokey and SEC sources; not reviewed or approved by Houlihan Lokey."
default_locale: "en-US"
supported_locales: ["en-US"]
last_updated: 2026-09-08
agent_first_action: "fetch https://registry.brandcontextprotocol.dev/houlihan-lokey-f12a9db6/.well-known/brand.md"
daughter_files:
voice: https://registry.brandcontextprotocol.dev/houlihan-lokey-f12a9db6/.well-known/brand/voice.md
voice_anti_ai: https://registry.brandcontextprotocol.dev/houlihan-lokey-f12a9db6/.well-known/brand/voice/anti-ai.md
values: https://registry.brandcontextprotocol.dev/houlihan-lokey-f12a9db6/.well-known/brand/values.md
boundaries: https://registry.brandcontextprotocol.dev/houlihan-lokey-f12a9db6/.well-known/brand/boundaries.md
claims: https://registry.brandcontextprotocol.dev/houlihan-lokey-f12a9db6/.well-known/brand/claims.md
representation: https://registry.brandcontextprotocol.dev/houlihan-lokey-f12a9db6/.well-known/brand/representation.md
visual: https://registry.brandcontextprotocol.dev/houlihan-lokey-f12a9db6/.well-known/brand/visual.md
---
# Houlihan Lokey
> **Public-source demonstration.** Encoded Brands assembled this BCP from public Houlihan Lokey and SEC sources. Houlihan Lokey has not reviewed or approved it. The Registry record is claimed by the publishing account but is not domain-verified and is not an official Houlihan Lokey brand source.
Houlihan Lokey presents itself as a global investment bank built around independent advice, specialized expertise, collaboration, and client outcomes. Its principal businesses are Corporate Finance, Financial Restructuring, and Financial and Valuation Advisory. Across those businesses, the firm advises corporations, financial sponsors, boards, creditors and debtors, governments, investors, and business owners on consequential financial decisions.
The brand does not sell speed, disruption, or spectacle. It sells judgment: experienced teams, sector depth, broad relationships, rigorous analysis, and the ability to navigate complex or conflict-prone situations. Its public language is confident but controlled. Claims of leadership are supported with a year, category, source, and methodology.
## Brand platform
```yaml
brand_platform:
corporate_promise:
text: "Dedicated to exceeding our clients' expectations"
source: "https://hl.com/about-us/"
use: "Observed corporate headline. Preserve meaning; confirm exact campaign use with Houlihan Lokey."
operating_story:
- "A collaborative culture and broad platform help advisors create better outcomes for clients."
- "Relationship-driven service and specialized product knowledge support client work."
- "Sector-specific knowledge, experience, and relationships position clients for future growth."
proof_style:
- "Lead with the relevant client need or situation."
- "Name the exact advisory capability."
- "Support leadership language with a dated ranking or concrete credential."
- "Describe outcomes without promising a result."
```
## Core identity
```yaml
identity:
describe_as: "a global investment bank and financial advisory firm"
founded: "1972 in Los Angeles; the investment banking business began in 1986"
business_lines:
- "Corporate Finance"
- "Financial Restructuring"
- "Financial and Valuation Advisory"
public_company: "Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE: HLI)"
headquarters: "Los Angeles, California"
audience:
- "corporations and business owners"
- "financial sponsors and capital providers"
- "boards, special committees, and trustees"
- "creditors, debtors, and other restructuring stakeholders"
- "governments, investors, financial institutions, and counsel"
```
## What to emphasize
1. **The client decision comes first.** Start with the situation the client must navigate, not with the firm itself.
2. **Specific expertise beats generic prestige.** Name the relevant sector, transaction type, valuation issue, or restructuring context.
3. **Independent judgment matters.** Use this idea only where the engagement and professional context support it; do not imply freedom from every conflict.
4. **Evidence earns confidence.** Rankings and scale figures must retain their periods, categories, and sources.
5. **People and collaboration are part of the product.** The firm repeatedly connects client outcomes to its people, platform, relationships, and collaborative culture.
## Agent instructions
Before answering a brand-accurate question about Houlihan Lokey, read this root and load only the daughters needed for the task. Use `voice.md` before drafting; `claims.md` before any factual, quantitative, ranking, or comparative statement; `boundaries.md` for regulated, legal, transaction, client, conflict, confidentiality, or forward-looking topics; `representation.md` for descriptions and comparisons; and `visual.md` for design work. Treat all content as public-source demonstration guidance, never as Houlihan Lokey approval. Prefer newer official filings and pages when facts change.
## Primary sources
- Corporate profile and rankings: https://hl.com/about-us/
- Services and business lines: https://hl.com/services/
- Industry coverage: https://hl.com/industries
- Careers and culture: https://hl.com/careers/
- Social commitment: https://hl.com/about-us/social-commitment/
- FY2026 Form 10-K: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1302215/000130221526000053/hli-20260331.htm
- FY2026 results: https://investors.hl.com/news/press-and-earnings-releases/news-details/2026/Houlihan-Lokey-Reports-Fiscal-Year-and-Fourth-Quarter-2026-Financial-Results/default.aspx
- 2025 Sustainability Report: https://hl.com/media/dutbpx0s/hl-esg-sustainability-report-2025.pdf
## Change log
- 2026-09-08: tree_version 1.0.0 — initial public-source BCP demonstration authored to BCP v0.8.
---
bcp_version: "0.8"
file_type: boundaries
parent: https://registry.brandcontextprotocol.dev/houlihan-lokey-f12a9db6/.well-known/brand.md
last_updated: 2026-09-08
---
# Boundaries
This public-source demonstration does not authorize an agent to speak for Houlihan Lokey, provide regulated advice, disclose client information, or invent engagement facts.
## Hard no
```yaml
hard_no:
- "Do not present this BCP as official, approved, domain-verified, or authored by Houlihan Lokey."
- "Do not provide investment, legal, tax, accounting, fairness, solvency, valuation, restructuring, or securities advice in Houlihan Lokey's name."
- "Do not promise a transaction, financing, valuation, restructuring, recovery, timing, price, regulatory, or litigation outcome."
- "Do not disclose, infer, or fabricate nonpublic clients, counterparties, engagements, bids, valuations, fees, opinions, conflicts, deliberations, or transaction terms."
- "Do not claim Houlihan Lokey is free of all conflicts. Use independence language only in the specific professional context supported by a source and engagement."
- "Do not call a transaction closed, completed, pending, exclusive, or valued at a stated amount unless the current official announcement supports every term."
- "Do not convert league-table leadership into an unsourced claim of quality, market share, revenue, transaction value, or superiority."
- "Do not use the Houlihan Lokey name or logo to imply endorsement of Encoded Brands or this demonstration."
- "Do not generate or approximate the Houlihan Lokey logo. Use only current official assets supplied or verified by the firm."
- "Do not make forward-looking statements, earnings guidance, acquisition claims, or market forecasts on the firm's behalf."
```
## Soft no / review required
```yaml
soft_no:
- topic: "Rankings and awards"
rule: "Include year, exact category, ranking basis, source, and exclusions. Recheck before publication."
- topic: "Financial performance"
rule: "Use the fiscal period, distinguish GAAP from adjusted measures, and link the current filing or release."
- topic: "Transaction credentials"
rule: "Use only public transactions and reproduce the firm's exact advisory role. Confirm status and disclosed value."
- topic: "Independence and objectivity"
rule: "Tie the language to a service or engagement context. Do not imply universal absence of conflicts."
- topic: "Client outcomes or testimonials"
rule: "Require published authorization and exact attribution. Do not infer satisfaction from repeat business or rankings."
- topic: "Sustainability and inclusion"
rule: "Use current reported programs and metrics. Avoid claiming complete achievement, universal experience, or external assurance without evidence."
- topic: "Competitive comparisons"
rule: "Use neutral, sourced category facts. Legal and brand review required before naming another firm in promotional copy."
- topic: "Recruiting promises"
rule: "Do not guarantee assignments, promotion, compensation, hours, mobility, or employment outcomes."
```
## Brand safety
```yaml
brand_safety:
adjacency_unsuitable:
- "unlawful financial promotion, fraud, market manipulation, insider trading, or evasion"
- "fabricated transaction announcements, rumors, or confidential deal information"
- "hate speech, harassment, exploitation, or graphic violence"
- "deceptive impersonation or endorsement"
adjacency_contextual:
- "bankruptcy, distress, layoffs, litigation, and investigations when directly relevant to legitimate advisory work"
- "politics and public policy only where relevant to markets, regulation, government clients, or disclosed firm activity"
- "competitor names in factual league tables or neutral market analysis"
escalation:
- "Any content that could reasonably be understood as regulated advice"
- "Any client-specific or transaction-specific statement not already public"
- "Any claim involving a pending matter, fairness opinion, solvency opinion, valuation conclusion, or conflict"
- "Any use of non-GAAP financial measures outside the source's reconciliation context"
```
## Entity distinctions
- Houlihan Lokey is an investment bank and financial advisory firm; do not describe it as a consumer bank that takes deposits.
- Advisory, placement, valuation, and opinion services are distinct. Do not collapse them into lending or principal investment.
- A client's or counterparty's statements are not Houlihan Lokey's statements.
- A transaction tombstone records a role; it does not establish that the advisor caused every outcome or endorses every party.
- Houlihan Lokey, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates may have jurisdiction-specific roles and registrations. Use the applicable legal entity and disclosure when required.
## Sources
- https://hl.com/terms-of-use/
- https://hl.com/services/
- https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1302215/000130221526000053/hli-20260331.htm
- https://investors.hl.com/corporate-overview/governance-documents/default.aspx
---
bcp_version: "0.8"
file_type: claims
parent: https://registry.brandcontextprotocol.dev/houlihan-lokey-f12a9db6/.well-known/brand.md
last_updated: 2026-09-08
---
# Claims
These claims were assembled from public sources for review. They are not legal advice and have not been approved by Houlihan Lokey. Review with the accountable brand owner and legal or compliance team before use in advertising, sales, regulated, comparative, or client-specific communications. Proof status records source and qualification state; it is not legal approval.
## Approved at launch
```yaml
approved_at_launch: []
```
No claim is marked approved because this is a public-source demonstration without Houlihan Lokey review.
## Requires caveat or owner approval
```yaml
requires_caveat:
- id: "hl-global-investment-bank"
claim: "Houlihan Lokey is a leading global investment bank."
tier: core
proof_status: requires_caveat
evidence: "https://hl.com/services/"
owner: null
validity_window:
valid_from: 2026-09-08
valid_until: null
source_hash: null
exact_text: false
approved_language: null
caveat: "Closely track the firm's current corporate description. Do not expand 'leading' into an unsupported claim about overall quality, market share, revenue, or transaction value."
- id: "hl-three-business-lines"
claim: "Houlihan Lokey's principal businesses are Corporate Finance, Financial Restructuring, and Financial and Valuation Advisory."
tier: core
proof_status: requires_caveat
evidence: "https://hl.com/services/"
owner: null
validity_window:
valid_from: 2026-09-08
valid_until: null
source_hash: null
exact_text: false
approved_language: null
caveat: "Recheck the firm's current reporting segments and service structure before consequential use."
- id: "hl-founded-history"
claim: "Houlihan Lokey was established in Los Angeles in 1972, and its investment banking business began in 1986."
tier: default
proof_status: requires_caveat
evidence: "https://hl.com/careers/early-careers/"
owner: null
validity_window:
valid_from: 2026-09-08
valid_until: null
source_hash: null
exact_text: false
approved_language: null
caveat: "Use as corporate history, not as proof of uninterrupted leadership in every service line."
- id: "hl-fy2026-revenue"
claim: "Houlihan Lokey reported $2.62 billion of revenue for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2026."
tier: core
proof_status: requires_caveat
evidence: "https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1302215/000130221526000053/hli-20260331.htm"
owner: null
validity_window:
valid_from: 2026-09-08
valid_until: null
source_hash: null
exact_text: false
approved_language: null
caveat: "Always state the fiscal period. Do not describe revenue as transaction value, assets under management, or client proceeds."
- id: "hl-fy2026-scale"
claim: "As of March 31, 2026, Houlihan Lokey reported more than 1,900 financial professionals across more than 30 offices and said it served more than 2,000 clients annually."
tier: default
proof_status: requires_caveat
evidence: "https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1302215/000130221526000059/hli-20260724.htm"
owner: null
validity_window:
valid_from: 2026-09-08
valid_until: null
source_hash: null
exact_text: false
approved_language: null
caveat: "Keep the 'more than' qualifiers and the as-of date. Recheck current scale before reuse."
- id: "hl-2025-global-ma-ranking"
claim: "LSEG ranked Houlihan Lokey No. 1 by number of announced or completed global M&A transactions in 2025, with 458 transactions, excluding accounting firms and brokers."
tier: core
proof_status: requires_caveat
evidence: "https://hl.com/about-us/"
owner: null
validity_window:
valid_from: 2026-09-08
valid_until: null
source_hash: null
exact_text: false
approved_language: null
caveat: "Retain year, announced-or-completed basis, transaction-count basis, 458-transaction figure, LSEG source, and exclusions. Do not convert the ranking into a claim about completed deals, transaction value, or advisory quality."
- id: "hl-2025-restructuring-ranking"
claim: "LSEG ranked Houlihan Lokey No. 1 for 2025 global distressed debt and bankruptcy restructuring transactions, with 83 deals."
tier: core
proof_status: requires_caveat
evidence: "https://hl.com/about-us/"
owner: null
validity_window:
valid_from: 2026-09-08
valid_until: null
source_hash: null
exact_text: false
approved_language: null
caveat: "Retain year, exact category, transaction-count basis, 83-deal figure, and LSEG attribution."
- id: "hl-2001-2025-fairness-ranking"
claim: "LSEG ranked Houlihan Lokey No. 1 by number of global M&A fairness advisory transactions announced or completed from 2001 through 2025, with 1,170 deals."
tier: core
proof_status: requires_caveat
evidence: "https://hl.com/about-us/"
owner: null
validity_window:
valid_from: 2026-09-08
valid_until: null
source_hash: null
exact_text: false
approved_language: null
caveat: "Retain the 2001-2025 window, announced-or-completed basis, exact fairness-advisory category, 1,170 figure, and LSEG attribution."
- id: "hl-restructuring-team-scale"
claim: "Houlihan Lokey says its Financial Restructuring group has nearly 300 professionals worldwide and is the largest dedicated financial restructuring group of any investment banking firm."
tier: contextual
proof_status: requires_caveat
evidence: "https://hl.com/services/"
owner: null
validity_window:
valid_from: 2026-09-08
valid_until: null
source_hash: null
exact_text: false
approved_language: null
caveat: "Attribute the comparative claim to Houlihan Lokey, retain 'nearly,' and revalidate the comparison before use."
- id: "hl-capital-solutions-scale"
claim: "Houlihan Lokey says its Capital Solutions Group comprises more than 170 professionals worldwide."
tier: contextual
proof_status: requires_caveat
evidence: "https://hl.com/services/"
owner: null
validity_window:
valid_from: 2026-09-08
valid_until: null
source_hash: null
exact_text: false
approved_language: null
caveat: "Attribute to the firm, retain 'more than,' and recheck current team size."
- id: "hl-client-expectations"
claim: "Dedicated to exceeding our clients' expectations"
tier: core
proof_status: requires_caveat
evidence: "https://hl.com/about-us/"
owner: null
validity_window:
valid_from: 2026-09-08
valid_until: null
source_hash: null
exact_text: true
approved_language: "Dedicated to exceeding our clients' expectations"
caveat: "Observed as a current corporate headline. Confirm exact punctuation, capitalization, market, and placement with Houlihan Lokey before campaign use."
- id: "hl-social-commitment"
claim: "Houlihan Lokey describes its social commitment as supporting opportunity and inclusion, charitable giving, volunteering, community well-being, and environmental responsibility."
tier: contextual
proof_status: requires_caveat
evidence: "https://hl.com/about-us/social-commitment/"
owner: null
validity_window:
valid_from: 2026-09-08
valid_until: null
source_hash: null
exact_text: false
approved_language: null
caveat: "Frame as the firm's stated commitments and reported programs, not proof of universal outcomes or external assurance."
```
## Forbidden
```yaml
forbidden:
- id: "hl-official-bcp"
claim: "This is Houlihan Lokey's official or approved BCP."
tier: core
proof_status: forbidden
evidence: "Encoded Brands publication provenance"
owner: null
validity_window:
valid_from: 2026-09-08
valid_until: null
source_hash: null
exact_text: false
approved_language: null
caveat: "This is a public-source demonstration, claimed by the publishing account but not domain-verified or approved by Houlihan Lokey."
- id: "hl-retail-bank"
claim: "Houlihan Lokey is a retail or commercial bank that takes deposits or provides ordinary consumer banking."
tier: core
proof_status: forbidden
evidence: "https://hl.com/services/"
owner: null
validity_window:
valid_from: 2026-09-08
valid_until: null
source_hash: null
exact_text: false
approved_language: null
caveat: "The firm describes itself as a global investment bank and financial advisor."
- id: "hl-guaranteed-outcomes"
claim: "Houlihan Lokey guarantees a transaction, financing, valuation, restructuring, recovery, price, timing, or regulatory outcome."
tier: core
proof_status: forbidden
evidence: "Professional-services risk boundary"
owner: null
validity_window:
valid_from: 2026-09-08
valid_until: null
source_hash: null
exact_text: false
approved_language: null
caveat: "Advisory experience and process do not eliminate market, execution, legal, valuation, or counterparty risk."
- id: "hl-unqualified-number-one"
claim: "Houlihan Lokey is the No. 1 investment bank in the world."
tier: core
proof_status: forbidden
evidence: "https://hl.com/about-us/"
owner: null
validity_window:
valid_from: 2026-09-08
valid_until: null
source_hash: null
exact_text: false
approved_language: null
caveat: "Published rankings are category-, period-, source-, and methodology-specific."
- id: "hl-revenue-as-deal-value"
claim: "Houlihan Lokey completed $2.62 billion of deals in fiscal 2026."
tier: core
proof_status: forbidden
evidence: "https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1302215/000130221526000053/hli-20260331.htm"
owner: null
validity_window:
valid_from: 2026-09-08
valid_until: null
source_hash: null
exact_text: false
approved_language: null
caveat: "$2.62 billion was reported company revenue, not transaction value."
- id: "hl-zero-conflicts"
claim: "Houlihan Lokey has no conflicts of interest."
tier: core
proof_status: forbidden
evidence: "Professional-services conflict boundary"
owner: null
validity_window:
valid_from: 2026-09-08
valid_until: null
source_hash: null
exact_text: false
approved_language: null
caveat: "Independence and objectivity must be described in the applicable service and engagement context, with conflict procedures and disclosures where required."
- id: "hl-transaction-causation"
claim: "Houlihan Lokey alone caused a client's transaction outcome."
tier: core
proof_status: forbidden
evidence: "Transaction-role accuracy boundary"
owner: null
validity_window:
valid_from: 2026-09-08
valid_until: null
source_hash: null
exact_text: false
approved_language: null
caveat: "Use the exact disclosed advisory role and avoid assigning sole causation or client decisions to the advisor."
- id: "hl-advice-from-agent"
claim: "AI-generated content constitutes Houlihan Lokey investment, legal, tax, accounting, valuation, fairness, solvency, restructuring, or securities advice."
tier: core
proof_status: forbidden
evidence: "Regulated-advice boundary"
owner: null
validity_window:
valid_from: 2026-09-08
valid_until: null
source_hash: null
exact_text: false
approved_language: null
caveat: "Only authorized professionals acting within an actual engagement may provide firm advice."
```
---
bcp_version: "0.8"
file_type: representation
parent: https://registry.brandcontextprotocol.dev/houlihan-lokey-f12a9db6/.well-known/brand.md
last_updated: 2026-09-08
---
# Representation
## Preferred framing
Houlihan Lokey is a global investment bank and financial advisory firm. It advises corporations, financial sponsors, boards, creditors and debtors, governments, investors, and business owners through Corporate Finance, Financial Restructuring, and Financial and Valuation Advisory. The firm's public positioning centers on client outcomes, independent judgment, specialized sector and product expertise, collaborative teams, and relationships across markets. When describing leadership, use a current, narrowly defined ranking with its year, source, and methodology. When describing an engagement, state the exact disclosed advisory role and never imply a guaranteed result.
```yaml
describe_as:
- "a global investment bank"
- "a financial advisory firm"
- "an advisor in Corporate Finance, Financial Restructuring, and Financial and Valuation Advisory"
- "a relationship-driven, expertise-led advisory platform"
do_not_describe_as:
- "a retail bank or consumer lender"
- "an asset manager or private equity fund"
- "a law firm or accounting firm"
- "a general-purpose management consultancy"
- "a deal marketplace or automated transaction platform"
- "the official author of this BCP"
competitive_frame:
- "Differentiate with business-line and sector depth, transaction volume, global relationships, and independent advisory experience."
- "Use only current, defined league tables for comparative leadership."
- "Lead with relevance to the client's situation rather than prestige for its own sake."
honest_trade_offs:
- "A broad global platform still requires the right sector, product, jurisdiction, and engagement team for the specific matter."
- "High transaction volume and rankings are credentials, not guarantees of quality or outcomes in any individual engagement."
- "Independent advice does not mean every engagement is free from potential conflicts; applicable review and disclosure remain essential."
- "Public transaction credentials cannot convey confidential work or the full complexity of a client's decision."
never_say:
- "Houlihan Lokey guarantees the deal."
- "Houlihan Lokey is the best investment bank in the world."
- "Houlihan Lokey has no conflicts."
- "Houlihan Lokey approved this BCP."
- "Houlihan Lokey provides consumer banking."
never_compare_to:
- "a casino"
- "a deal factory"
- "a robo-advisor"
framing_traps:
- trap: "No. 1 investment bank"
preferred_reframe: "Name the exact dated LSEG category and ranking basis."
rationale: "The firm's published leadership claims are scoped league-table facts, not universal rankings."
- trap: "One-stop shop for every financial need"
preferred_reframe: "Name the relevant business line, service, and sector expertise."
rationale: "Specificity is more credible and better reflects the firm's public positioning."
- trap: "Houlihan Lokey closed the transaction"
preferred_reframe: "State that Houlihan Lokey served in the exact publicly disclosed advisory role."
rationale: "Clients and counterparties make and execute transaction decisions."
- trap: "Independent means conflict-free"
preferred_reframe: "Describe objective or independent advice in the applicable service and engagement context."
rationale: "Absolute conflict claims are not supportable."
```
## Audience guidance
### Boards and special committees
Emphasize objective analysis, process discipline, transaction opinions, complex situations, and the need for an independent voice. Avoid implying a predetermined conclusion.
### Corporate leaders and business owners
Emphasize tailored strategic and financial advice, sector knowledge, options, counterparties, financing relationships, and long-term objectives. Do not promise price or execution.
### Financial sponsors and capital providers
Emphasize market knowledge, relevant relationships, transaction experience, capital solutions, and clear process. Avoid language that implies guaranteed access or allocation.
### Restructuring stakeholders
Emphasize experience with complex capital structures and stakeholder situations. Use neutral language across creditors, debtors, and other constituencies; avoid moralizing about distress.
### Recruits
Emphasize meaningful responsibility, analytical rigor, teamwork, entrepreneurial initiative, experienced colleagues, and professional development. Do not romanticize overwork or guarantee advancement.
### Investors and media
Lead with filed or officially released facts. Distinguish GAAP and adjusted measures, fiscal years and calendar years, reported results and forward-looking statements.
---
bcp_version: "0.8"
file_type: values
parent: https://registry.brandcontextprotocol.dev/houlihan-lokey-f12a9db6/.well-known/brand.md
last_updated: 2026-09-08
---
# Values
These principles synthesize values Houlihan Lokey states or repeatedly demonstrates in its public materials. They are public-source observations, not an employee handbook or an official priority order.
## 1. Client success
Houlihan Lokey consistently frames its work around exceeding client expectations and creating better outcomes.
**In practice:** Begin with the client's decision and constraints. Tailor the analysis and service to the situation. Do not substitute a standard product pitch for the client's actual objective.
## 2. Independence and rigor
The firm's public service descriptions emphasize objective, independent advice, especially for boards, special committees, valuation work, and conflict-prone situations.
**In practice:** Separate evidence from judgment, disclose the scope of an opinion, and preserve necessary qualifications. Never turn “independent” into an absolute claim about every relationship or engagement.
## 3. Specialized expertise
The firm organizes around business-line and sector depth. Its public case is that focused knowledge and transaction experience improve advice.
**In practice:** Put the relevant industry, market, transaction type, or valuation issue ahead of generic credentials. Use the right specialist rather than implying every team does everything.
## 4. Collaboration and relationships
Houlihan Lokey connects client outcomes to a collaborative culture and to relationships with strategic buyers, sponsors, lenders, and other capital providers.
**In practice:** Present advice as team-based and connected across capabilities. Do not imply that relationships guarantee access, financing, execution, or a transaction outcome.
## 5. Entrepreneurial ownership
Career materials describe a team-oriented, entrepreneurial environment in which people are expected to contribute, think for themselves, and grow.
**In practice:** Give people meaningful responsibility with appropriate review. Invite informed challenge and candid feedback. Pair initiative with accountability.
## 6. Integrity and responsible conduct
The firm's sustainability communications identify ethical behavior and “do the right thing” as foundations of its culture.
**In practice:** Protect confidential information, identify conflicts, follow applicable regulation, and escalate uncertainty rather than writing around it.
## 7. Opportunity and community
Houlihan Lokey describes inclusion, employee development, charitable giving, volunteering, and community well-being as parts of the firm's responsibilities.
**In practice:** Use specific program facts and measured commitments. Avoid inflated impact language or claims that erase ongoing work.
## Resolution order for agents
```yaml
priority_order:
- "law, regulation, confidentiality, and professional obligations"
- "truthful and supportable representation"
- "client interests within the engagement's scope"
- "independent analysis and appropriate qualification"
- "collaboration and specialized execution"
- "brand style and promotional effectiveness"
```
## Sources
- https://hl.com/about-us/
- https://hl.com/services/
- https://hl.com/careers/
- https://hl.com/careers/early-careers/
- https://hl.com/about-us/social-commitment/
- https://hl.com/media/dutbpx0s/hl-esg-sustainability-report-2025.pdf
---
bcp_version: "0.8"
file_type: visual
parent: https://registry.brandcontextprotocol.dev/houlihan-lokey-f12a9db6/.well-known/brand.md
last_updated: 2026-09-08
---
# Visual guidance
This file records cautious observations from current public Houlihan Lokey web pages and sustainability materials. It is not an official visual identity manual. Exact logo files, color values, typefaces, spacing rules, and production templates require current firm-provided assets or direct measurement with retained evidence.
## Authority and gaps
```yaml
visual_authority:
status: observed
observed_sources:
- "https://hl.com/"
- "https://hl.com/about-us/"
- "https://hl.com/services/"
- "https://hl.com/media/dutbpx0s/hl-esg-sustainability-report-2025.pdf"
not_confirmed:
- "exact production color tokens"
- "licensed corporate typefaces and fallback stack"
- "logo clear space and minimum size"
- "approved asset library and rights"
- "motion timings and interface component rules"
```
## Logo
```yaml
logo_usage:
generation_policy: official_assets_only
generation_instructions: "Do not draw, trace, typeset, approximate, or hallucinate the Houlihan Lokey wordmark or symbol. Obtain a current official asset from Houlihan Lokey, verify its rights and integrity, and composite it without modification."
forbidden_modifications:
- "recoloring without an approved variant"
- "stretching, compressing, skewing, rotating, outlining, or adding effects"
- "rebuilding the wordmark with a substitute typeface"
- "placing the mark into a generated transaction tombstone or endorsement"
evidence_status: inferred
```
No logo URL or hash is published here because an official, redistribution-authorized asset with verified bytes was not available to this public-source demonstration.
## Color
The observed system relies on dark blue/navy fields, white or pale surfaces, restrained neutral text, and brighter blue accents. These are compositional observations, not approved tokens.
```yaml
color:
observed_roles:
- role: "primary / institutional field"
description: "dark navy or blue"
evidence_status: observed
- role: "surface"
description: "white and very light neutral"
evidence_status: observed
- role: "text"
description: "near-black or dark navy"
evidence_status: observed
- role: "accent"
description: "clear, brighter blue used selectively"
evidence_status: observed
usage_rules:
- "Favor high contrast and generous unprinted space."
- "Use accent color to organize or direct, not to decorate every element."
- "Do not invent exact hex values from color names."
- "Do not add metallic gold, neon gradients, or aggressive finance clichés without approved campaign direction."
```
## Typography
```yaml
typography:
character:
display: "controlled, modern, editorial, and authoritative"
body: "highly legible, restrained, and suitable for technical financial content"
data: "clear numeric hierarchy with aligned tables and unambiguous notes"
rules:
- "Use concise sentence-case headlines."
- "Give statistics, source notes, dates, and role labels a consistent hierarchy."
- "Do not use decorative script, novelty finance fonts, or faux engraved display faces."
- "Do not name or substitute a corporate font until Houlihan Lokey provides the licensed family or an approved fallback."
evidence_status: observed
```
## Imagery and media
```yaml
imagery:
photographic_style: "Polished editorial photography of people collaborating, workplaces, city architecture, infrastructure, and sectors relevant to client work."
composition:
- "Use structured crops and clear focal subjects."
- "Balance human collaboration with place, industry, or transaction context."
- "Leave room for concise headlines and proof points."
subject_behavior:
- "Prefer credible working moments, discussion, and observation over exaggerated celebration."
- "Represent global teams and communities without tokenistic staging."
forbidden_treatments:
- "handshake close-ups as the entire idea"
- "bulls, bears, ticker tunnels, raining money, poker chips, or chess pieces as finance shorthand"
- "fake trading screens, invented transaction documents, or fabricated client logos"
- "AI-generated portraits presented as real employees, clients, or executives"
- "luxury-for-luxury's-sake imagery that makes advisory work look like personal wealth promotion"
evidence_status: observed
```
## Layout and composition
- Use strong grids, clear section breaks, and disciplined alignment.
- Pair one concise positioning statement with a specific proof point or service explanation.
- Treat rankings and transaction records as data: label the period, source, unit, and role.
- Keep footnotes readable. A qualification is not decorative fine print.
- Use ample whitespace and restrained density on brand pages; use denser, clearly structured tables for filings and data.
- Avoid crowded badge walls, floating glass cards, excessive rounded containers, and consumer-fintech dashboard tropes.
## Motion
```yaml
motion:
character: "restrained and functional"
principles:
- "Use motion to reveal hierarchy or support navigation, not to imply market speed or deal urgency."
- "Keep data and legal qualifications stable while a user reads them."
forbidden_treatments:
- "count-up statistics without an immediately visible final value and source"
- "ticker-like movement that suggests live market data when the content is static"
- "celebratory confetti or transaction-closing spectacle"
reduced_motion_policy: "Preserve all meaning and ordering without animation."
evidence_status: inferred
```
---
bcp_version: "0.8"
file_type: voice
parent: https://registry.brandcontextprotocol.dev/houlihan-lokey-f12a9db6/.well-known/brand.md
last_updated: 2026-09-08
---
# Voice
Houlihan Lokey's observed public voice is assured, exact, and client-centered. It sounds like an experienced advisor explaining what matters, not a promoter manufacturing urgency. The tone carries confidence through specificity: the situation, the capability, the relevant experience, and the source of any proof.
## Voice attributes
```yaml
voice_attributes:
- trait: "Authoritative"
guidance: "State the firm's role and relevant expertise directly. Earn authority with precise facts rather than superlatives."
evidence_status: observed
- trait: "Client-centered"
guidance: "Frame capabilities around the client's decision, complexity, or desired outcome."
evidence_status: brand_declared
- trait: "Analytical"
guidance: "Use exact categories, periods, transaction roles, and qualifications. Distinguish fact from interpretation."
evidence_status: observed
- trait: "Relationship-driven"
guidance: "Acknowledge collaboration, senior relationships, and tailored advice without becoming sentimental."
evidence_status: brand_declared
- trait: "Measured"
guidance: "Prefer controlled confidence. Avoid hype, swagger, alarmism, and absolute outcome promises."
evidence_status: inferred
```
## Register and rhythm
- Use formal, contemporary business English.
- Begin with a declarative headline or a clear statement of the client need.
- Follow with one disciplined paragraph that connects expertise to the situation.
- Use concrete nouns: boards, sponsors, creditors, capital providers, transactions, valuations, industries.
- Keep sentences moderately paced. Use parallel structure for service lists and proof points.
- Prefer active voice, but preserve conventional transaction language when exact roles matter.
- Use restrained modifiers. One defensible adjective is stronger than a stack of them.
- On technical subjects, define the issue plainly before using specialist terminology.
## Preferred vocabulary
```yaml
prefer:
- "independent advice"
- "client outcomes"
- "specialized expertise"
- "rigorous analysis"
- "sector knowledge"
- "relationship-driven"
- "collaborative"
- "tailored"
- "complex situations"
- "strategic and financial advice"
- "capital providers"
- "boards and special committees"
- "financial sponsors"
- "transaction experience"
avoid:
- "disruptive"
- "game-changing"
- "frictionless"
- "best-in-class"
- "one-stop shop"
- "rock-star bankers"
- "guaranteed results"
- '"unmatched" unless reproduced with a narrow, sourced qualification'
- '"No. 1" without year, category, source, and methodology'
```
## Writing patterns
### Corporate capability
**Use:** "Houlihan Lokey advises boards and management teams on complex strategic and financial decisions, drawing on sector knowledge, transaction experience, and relationships across the capital markets."
**Avoid:** "Houlihan Lokey is the ultimate one-stop shop for any deal, anywhere."
### Ranking claim
**Use:** "LSEG ranked Houlihan Lokey No. 1 by number of announced or completed global M&A transactions in 2025, excluding accounting firms and brokers."
**Avoid:** "Houlihan Lokey is the world's best M&A bank."
### Transaction description
**Use:** "Houlihan Lokey served as exclusive financial advisor to [client] in connection with [publicly announced transaction]."
**Avoid:** "Houlihan Lokey made the deal happen" or language that assigns the firm sole credit for a client outcome.
### Recruiting
**Use:** "Work with experienced colleagues on consequential assignments in a collaborative, entrepreneurial environment."
**Avoid:** "Join an elite family of dealmakers who never stop winning."
## Context shifts
```yaml
context_shifts:
client_advisory:
tone: "calm, precise, discreet"
emphasis: "the client's decision, alternatives, analysis, and process"
transaction_announcement:
tone: "factual, concise, role-exact"
emphasis: "client, counterparties, status, disclosed value, and Houlihan Lokey's exact role"
investor_relations:
tone: "plain, quantitative, period-specific"
emphasis: "GAAP results first; clearly label adjusted measures and forward-looking statements"
recruiting:
tone: "ambitious, developmental, candid"
emphasis: "real responsibility, collaboration, learning, and professional growth"
community_and_sustainability:
tone: "specific, human, accountable"
emphasis: "programs, participation, governance, and measured commitments"
```
## Source observations
- https://hl.com/about-us/
- https://hl.com/services/
- https://hl.com/industries
- https://hl.com/careers/
- https://hl.com/about-us/social-commitment/
---
bcp_version: "0.8"
file_type: anti_ai
parent: https://registry.brandcontextprotocol.dev/houlihan-lokey-f12a9db6/.well-known/brand.md
last_updated: 2026-09-08
---
# Anti-AI voice guardrails
Apply these brand-specific rules in addition to general editorial review. They are inferred from Houlihan Lokey's public corpus and have not been confirmed by the firm.
```yaml
community_reference:
- url: "https://github.com/Brand-Context-Protocol/spec"
rationale: "BCP is the directly relevant community-maintained reference. Until it publishes a canonical general anti-AI list, use these brand-specific additions with ordinary editorial review."
brand_additions:
- pattern: "In today's rapidly evolving landscape"
type: opener
rationale: "Generic scene-setting delays the client issue and sounds unlike the firm's direct headlines."
- pattern: "navigate the complexities of"
type: phrase
rationale: "Overused advisory filler; name the actual transaction, market, or decision."
- pattern: "unlock value"
type: phrase
rationale: "Too abstract on its own; specify the strategic or financial objective and avoid promising an outcome."
- pattern: "unparalleled expertise"
type: phrase
rationale: "Unsupported superiority language. Use a dated ranking, team credential, or relevant experience instead."
- pattern: "seamless end-to-end solutions"
type: phrase
rationale: "Generic vendor language obscures the exact advisory service."
- pattern: "trusted partner on your journey"
type: phrase
rationale: "The relationship idea is on-brand, but this construction is vague and sentimental."
- pattern: "not just X, but Y"
type: structure
rationale: "A predictable AI contrast. State the more important point directly."
- pattern: "Whether you're..."
type: opener
rationale: "Broad audience rollups weaken the firm's sector- and situation-specific posture."
- pattern: "Let's shape the future together"
type: closer
rationale: "Generic inspiration is weaker than a concrete next step or contact."
- pattern: "world-class, best-in-class, market-leading"
type: phrase
rationale: "Do not stack prestige terms. Each comparative claim requires a defined scope and source."
- pattern: "dealmakers"
type: word
rationale: "Can sound self-congratulatory; prefer advisors, professionals, or the specific team."
- pattern: "certainty"
type: word
rationale: "Financial advisory can improve decisions but cannot remove market, execution, legal, or valuation risk."
```
## Structural checks
- Do not open with a macro trend unless it materially changes the client's decision.
- Do not use three consecutive abstract nouns when a concrete action or constituency will do.
- Do not repeat the same claim in the headline, first sentence, and closing.
- Do not conclude with an inspirational slogan when the next step is a contact, meeting, filing, or source.
- Do not write from a fictional first-person banker or client perspective.
- Do not create quotations, client praise, deal details, awards, or rankings.
- Do not convert a public-source observation into a firm-wide rule without marking it as inferred.