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Greenhill CEO wants to keep hiring

Greenhill & Co. Inc. CEO Scott Bok said he expects to see a significant increase in managing director headcount during 2018.

Bok noted that Greenhill added nine managing directors in 2017, and the company expects to see a similar size recruiting class in 2018.

"I think we're poised for a pretty substantial year of senior recruiting," Bok said Feb. 6 during an earnings conference call.

In 2017, Bok had also said Greenhill was ramping up its recruiting efforts. However, he said during the recent call that the company's number of client-facing managing directors stood at 71, which was the same number of managing directors reported at year-end 2016, according to a Form 10-K filing.

During the call, an analyst asked why the managing director headcount remained flat. Bok noted that some managing directors moved to different roles, such as becoming senior advisers, and he believed the year-end 2016 total included internal promotions.

"I would expect that we will see some meaningful headcount growth this year, both in terms of managing directors and through the ranks," he said.

Bok said many of the potential recruits are based in the U.S. and are specialists in sectors where Greenhill would like to grow coverage. One area where Bok would like to add talent is restructuring. Bok said he doubts a restructuring cycle is imminent, but he anticipates an opportunity in 2019 and beyond.

"There's been a lot of dislocation in equity markets in recent days and interest rates [are] starting to move up," he said. "And so at some point, clearly, credit markets are going to turn and there will be a lot of restructuring."