Scott Adelson took the helm of Houlihan Lokey nearly a year ago — one of a flurry of chief executive appointments made during a wider shuffle of investment banks’ top management. 

But while new bosses at the likes of HSBC, Morgan Stanley and Lazard have laid out often-ambitious plans for their banks, Adelson wants to make it clear that it’s been very much the status quo at Los Angeles- headquartered Houlihan Lokey.