Houlihan Lokey hires ex-Jefferies senior tech banker Alec Ellison to lead new fintech group

Houlihan Lokey hired ex-Jefferies vice chairman Alec Ellison as global head of fintech. The fintech group is a new one at Houlihan.

Ellison also has been named chief innovation officer, corporate finance, also a new role within Houlihan.

Ellison will lead a team of more than 30 finance professionals based in New York, London and Los Angeles. The team will coordinate with partners in the finance services and technology industry group, as well as capital markets, financial restructuring and financial and valuation advisory teams.

Prior to Houlihan, Ellison worked as U.S. chairman at OurCrowd, a digital venture and growth investing platform. Before, he worked as vice chairman at Jefferies and a member of its executive committee. He started his career at Morgan Stanley in 1988.

“Financial technology continues to grow at a breakneck pace as the digital revolution continues and even accelerates with greater adoption of AI. Despite current challenges facing many fintech companies, as valuations have contracted from the pandemic-induced euphoria, the overall market is in its early innings,” Ellison said.

“Challenges ranging from broad underserved markets to ensuring safe transactions to addressing the inevitable growth of regulation from the recent crypto and bank crises remain opportunities to be addressed by both emerging and incumbent players.”