Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI), a global investment bank, announced the results of its annual stockholders meeting held on Wednesday, where several key proposals were voted upon, including the election of directors and executive compensation.
At the annual meeting, shareholders elected four Class III directors to the board, each to serve until the 2027 annual meeting. The elected directors are Scott J. Adelson, Ekpedeme M. Bassey, Robert A. Schriesheim, and P. Eric Siegert. The vote counts ranged from approximately 192.5 million to 207.7 million in favor, with withheld votes ranging from around 4.97 million to 20.21 million.
In addition, the company's stockholders approved, on an advisory basis, the compensation of the named executive officers. The proposal received over 206 million votes for and approximately 6.85 million votes against, with a small number of abstentions.
Shareholders also voted on the frequency of future advisory votes on executive compensation, overwhelmingly supporting the holding of such votes every year, with over 212 million votes in favor of the one-year frequency.
Furthermore, the appointment of KPMG LLP as the company's independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2025, was ratified with more than 213 million votes for and around 1.6 million against.
The meeting, which took place on September 18, 2024, concluded with all proposals passing as outlined in the company's 2024 Proxy Statement. The results reflect shareholder confidence in the current board's leadership and the company's executive compensation practices.
In other recent news, Houlihan Lokey, a global investment bank, has reported a strong start to its fiscal year 2025, with first-quarter revenues reaching $514 million, marking a 24% increase from the previous year. The firm's adjusted earnings per share also rose by 37%, hitting $1.22. The Corporate Finance division led this growth with a 45% revenue increase, while Financial Restructuring revenues saw a slight decline.
In personnel news, Houlihan Lokey has announced the appointment of Geoff Rhizor as a Managing Director in its Technology Group and Andrew Atherton as a Managing Director for its FinTech Group. Rhizor, formerly of Canaccord Genuity, will focus on the social impact/nonprofit and office of the CFO software sectors, while Atherton, a former Partner at Union Square Advisors, will cover various FinTech sectors and adjacent enterprise software companies.
In terms of future expectations, Houlihan Lokey has expressed optimism about continued growth quarter-over-quarter, given favorable market conditions. The integration of GCA has bolstered its European operations, and the firm is actively seeking acquisitions or organic hires to address underweighted sectors.
However, it expects the tax rate to be at the higher end of the historic range due to operations in higher tax jurisdictions. These are among the recent developments at Houlihan Lokey.
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