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Stock Comparison · Structural lead, mixed market

Houlihan Lokey vs Marsh & McLennan Companies: Which Stock Looks Stronger in 2026?

Marsh & McLennan Companies holds the cleaner structural position, with the lead spread across profitability and growth. Houlihan Lokey does not offset that deficit through any equally strong structural edge elsewhere. Both sides have seen trend damage — neither carries a clear market edge right now. With both trends damaged, the structural comparison carries most of the weight here.

The comparison is based on similar long-term financial trajectories, not sector labels. Both peer scores are relative to the Russell 1000 universe, making them directly comparable.

Updated 2026-07-05

This is not just a one-metric split: both profitability and growth materially support the lead. The overall score gap is 15 points in favour of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc..

Trajectory Similarity
0.70
Moderately similar
Peer-set rank: #10
within Houlihan Lokey, Inc.'s functional peer set

This comparison is anchored in long-term financial trajectory similarity within the selected peer universe.

This level of similarity points to a meaningful structural match, though not a tight one.

Most of the shared profile comes through margin consistency and investment intensity.

Similarity drivers
margin consistencyinvestment intensity
How to read the score
0.85–1.00 · Very similar0.70–0.84 · Similar0.55–0.69 · Moderately similarbelow 0.55 · Loose match
Peer-Relative Score
HLI
Houlihan Lokey, Inc.
43
Peer-Score
Signal qualityMedium
Peer basis: Russell 1000
vs
MRSH
Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc.
58
Peer-Score
Signal qualitylow
Peer basis: Russell 1000

Scores reflect position relative to comparable companies with similar long-term financial trajectories.

The largest gaps do not all point in the same direction.

Dimension spread: HLI vs MRSH Profitability 27 54 Stability 76 69 Valuation 65 78 Growth 0 26 HLI MRSH
Gap Ranking
#1 Profitability +27
#2 Growth +26
#3 Valuation +13
#4 Stability +7
Price Setup

Left means cheaper relative valuation. Higher means stronger structure.

Price setup map for HLI and MRSH Stronger + cheaper Stronger + richer Weaker + cheaper Weaker + richer HLIMRSH Relative valuation Structural strength

Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. still looks stronger, and the price setup does not materially undermine that lead.

Valuation position uses peer-relative PE percentile (idx_pct_pe) where available.

Entry today — historical context

Where HLI and MRSH each sit in their own 5-year price and valuation history.

BASED ON 5-YEAR HISTORY HLI Neutral · near norm 0th 50th 100th 20 pct gap MRSH Neutral · below norm 0th 50th 100th 68th 49th
Today MRSH sits in the lower-middle of its own 5-year history (49th percentile), while HLI sits higher in its own history (68th). Within each stock's own 5-year context, MRSH is at a historically more favourable entry position than HLI. This reflects entry timing, not which company is structurally stronger — peer-relative analysis is a separate question addressed above.

Describes historical entry positioning only. Descriptive — not investment advice.

Relative Position vs Comparable Companies
Profitability
Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. sits in the stronger part of the group on profitability, while Houlihan Lokey, Inc. is closer to mid-pack.
Growth
Both sit in the weaker half on growth, with Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. still coming out ahead.
Profitability — Dominant Gap
HLI
27
MRSH
54
Gap+27in favour of MRSH

Return on equity adds support too, with a 9.2-point advantage.

What keeps the gap from being one-sided

Houlihan Lokey, Inc. still shows lower market-fundamental divergence, which keeps the wider picture mixed rather than completely one-sided.

What this means for the comparison

The lead is built on both profitability and growth, making it broader than a single-dimension result.

Explore full peer positioning in AssetNext

Break down the HLI vs MRSH comparison across all dimensions with the full interactive tool.

Explore full breakdown →
Similar profitability-and-growth comparisons

Explore how HLI and MRSH each compare against other companies in their peer groups.

Rule-based, descriptive analysis only. Derived from peer percentile dimensions. Not investment advice. Peer groups are determined algorithmically based on structural similarity — not by sector classification alone.

How AssetNext Peer Scores Work

AssetNext scores reflect each company's structural position within its functional peer group — not a ranking against all stocks simultaneously. Peers are identified by similarity across eight financial dimensions, including revenue growth trajectory, margin structure, capital intensity, and earnings stability. A score of 75 means the company ranks in the top quartile within its own peer group, not the entire market.

Four dimension scores drive the overall peer score: Growth (revenue trajectory and expansion dynamics), Quality (margin structure and capital efficiency), Valuation (peer-relative pricing on standard multiples), and Stability (earnings consistency and financial predictability). Each dimension is scored 0–100 relative to the peer group, then combined into an overall peer score using equal weighting.

Because scores are peer-relative, the same company can have slightly different scores in different index universes. On comparison pages, both companies are shown within their shared peer universe wherever possible — so the scores are directly comparable. The peer basis is stated on each score card.

Scores are recalculated periodically as underlying financial data is updated. All analysis is descriptive and rule-based — AssetNext describes structural realities and never issues buy, sell or hold recommendations.