Most investors have never heard of Houlihan Lokey (HLI), but almost all investment bankers have. The relatively small $3B investment bank headquartered in Los Angeles, California, won #1 M&A Advisor, #1 Global Fairness Opinion Advisor, and (most importantly) #1 Restructuring Advisor in 2018.
The bank is cheap, has an extremely conservative balance sheet, and has a counter-cyclical revenue stream. it is counter-cyclical because it is a global leader in debt restructuring deals. The company got the job for 12 out of the 15 largest bankruptcies from 2000 to 2018 (including Lehman Brothers, Worldcom,