Steve Clapham
Steve Clapham is a forensic accounting expert and the Founder of Behind the Balance Sheet, the premier training and research consultancy. The consultancy runs Forensic Accounting Courses for leading institutions like Schroders, Hermes and Baillie Gifford, among others. Clapham is a highly rated buy-side and low-side analyst with over 30 years of extensive experience in the stock market. Prior to Behind the Balance Sheet, he was a veteran equity analyst who served as a partner at two multi-billion dollar hedge funds. Clapham also held senior positions at various leading investment banks covering the transport, utilities, and conglomerate sectors. He won numerous industry rankings in annual surveys, being voted for by many of the top investment institutions. Today, Clapham produces bespoke research for a small group of institutional clients as an analyst and shareholder at Hardman & Co.
Since its first course in 2018, over 150 investment professionals have been through the program.
More recently, courses have been made available to private investors, both in-person at the City training academy and online.
Clapham's research shows that most fraudulent companies reported significantly higher margins than its peers.
He believes that analyzing the balance sheet is crucial to understanding a company and spotting fraud.
He teaches that working capital ratios are also important to look at - compare them to peer groups and past trends to identify problems.
EARLY CAREER
Clapham moved to the buy-side in 2005 and was a partner and head of research at two multi-billion dollar hedge funds.
He was a partner at Toscafund Asset Management LLP, and then Head of Research at Altima partners LLP.
He specialized in using a deep dive approach to identify special situation opportunities.
MEDIA & PUBLICATIONS
Clapham is regularly featured in the press, including the Financial Times, the Times, Sunday Times, and City AM.
He has been featured in Bloomberg, The Telegraph, Investors Chronicles, Newsweek, and Business Insider.
He also appeared on the Today program on BBC Radio 4 and Real Vision, talking about accounting issues at quoted companies.