Behind the Balance Sheet

Stephen Clapham's Podcast on Value Investing | Stockmarket Analysis | Equities

We deconstruct the performance of world beating investors. A former Tiger Cub hedge fund partner interviews top hedge fund & long only managers & leading commentators. Past guests include John Armitage, Mario Gabelli & Bill Nygren.

We explore how professionals analyse & value businesses, capital cycles, forensic accounting, pick stocks, construct portfolios, generate alpha & manage risk.

For private investors, analysts, PMs & students who want serious financial education, sharper investing insights & to master equity research, fundamental analysis & value investing.

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68 episodes
Updated July 16

Episodes68

Newest first

Jan 20, 2022 · 1 hr 7 min
#6 The Existentialist: Hugh Hendry on 30% in 2008, Cockroach Mandates & Seeing the World Differently
Former hedge fund manager Hugh Hendry is best known as the man who made 30% in 2008, when others crashed, including many so-called hedge funds. He described his cockroach mandate as being a survivor no matter what. He closed the fund in 2017 after a period of lackustre but far from shocking performance and has become a property developer and landlord of upmarket rentals on the billionaire favourite Caribbean hideaway of St Barths. But few owners of vacation lets could tell you what the 10 year bill has done in the last month, let alone give a coherent view of how it might move in 2022. Hugh may have retired but he has certainly not let go. He views the world through a different prism – he is like a photographer who only uses a fish-eye lens. We recorded on a cold London day and on St Bart's it was just as windy, as you may hear. Full show notes here Behind the Balance Sheet is a forensic accounting and fundamental investing podcast for serious investors. Each episode dives into how real‑world investors source ideas, build conviction and manage their portfolios. You’ll hear frameworks for analysing industries, understanding business models, and thinking about risk, behaviour and incentives, so you can refine your own process rather than copy stock tips.For show notes, transcripts and additional resources, visit our ⁠⁠website⁠⁠. If you value thoughtful, process-driven investing discussions, follow the show and consider leaving a short review, or just a 5* rating on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Please help spread the word.
Dec 19, 2021 · 19 min
Bonus Episode - Financial Literacy
I interviewed Patrick Jenkins, Deputy Editor of the Financial Times, about the paper's new charity, the Financial Literacy and Inclusion Campaign. We discuss why Patrick decide to set up the charity, its aims and objectives, and why this is such an important cause. My take: this is less important than curing cancer, but it's a lot easier. This is one of Warren Buffett's one foot bars. We can easily make a big difference to a lot of people's lives by explaining simple concepts like the power of compound interest. No more payday loans may be a big ask, but fewer will make a lot of people's lives happier. This interview was published previously as an addition to Episode 2, but with Christmas in a week, I thought it was timely to release it separately..
Dec 16, 2021 · 1 hr 5 min
#5 The Pianist - Lucy Macdonald on Stock Picking, Leading Analyst Teams & Women in Fund Management
Lucy Macdonald is the former CIO of Global Equities at Allianz Global Investors where she worked for almost 20 years and managed £5bn or $8bn of assets. She is currently a NED on JP Morgan GEM Income Trust and taking care of a new puppy. Lucy has 30 years of experience in financial markets and is exactly the sort of guest we are hoping to have on the podcast – a wealth of experience, semi-retired, and not afraid to speak out.In this podcast she explains her really unusual route to finance, her approach to running successful portfolios, how to run a team of fund managers and analysts and how a woman copes in a man’s world. Full show notes here Behind the Balance Sheet is a forensic accounting and fundamental investing podcast for serious investors. Each episode dives into how real‑world investors source ideas, build conviction and manage their portfolios. You’ll hear frameworks for analysing industries, understanding business models, and thinking about risk, behaviour and incentives, so you can refine your own process rather than copy stock tips.For show notes, transcripts and additional resources, visit our ⁠⁠website⁠⁠. If you value thoughtful, process-driven investing discussions, follow the show and consider leaving a short review, or just a 5* rating on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Please help spread the word.
Nov 17, 2021 · 1 hr 13 min
#4 The Not Quite Trillion Dollar Man - Quintin Price on Leadership at BlackRock, Active Management & the Importance of Hard Work
Until 2015, Quintin Price was Global Head of BlackRock’s Alpha Strategies business where he was responsible for nearly $1 trillion of assets under management and was a member of the Global Executive Committee, working closely with Larry Fink. Quintin has 30 years of experience in financial markets and is exactly the sort of guest we seek to have on the podcast – a wealth of experience, retired from day to day fund management, and not afraid to speak out, as you will hear. Full show notes here. Behind the Balance Sheet is a forensic accounting and fundamental investing podcast for serious investors. Each episode dives into how real‑world investors source ideas, build conviction and manage their portfolios. You’ll hear frameworks for analysing industries, understanding business models, and thinking about risk, behaviour and incentives, so you can refine your own process rather than copy stock tips.For show notes, transcripts and additional resources, visit our ⁠⁠website⁠⁠. If you value thoughtful, process-driven investing discussions, follow the show and consider leaving a short review, or just a 5* rating on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Please help spread the word.
Oct 20, 2021 · 1 hr 18 min
#3 Two UK Venture Leaders - Pete Davies & Spencer Crawley on Long‑Term VC, Academia Spin‑Outs & the New Tech Cycle
Pete Davies has long been widely considered one of the greatest long term thinkers in the hedge fund world. He was early to recognise the opportunities to provide venture capital to UK academia and his firm, Lansdowne Partners, was instrumental in setting up Oxford Science Innovation. Spencer Crawley is the co-founder of FirstMinute Capital, a UK seed investor which boasts an astonishing 111 unicorn founders as investors. In this interview we discuss the UK venture scene, why early stage investing is truly a long term activity, and how this cycle compares to the late 1990s tech boom. Full show notes here. Behind the Balance Sheet is a forensic accounting and fundamental investing podcast for serious investors. Each episode dives into how real‑world investors source ideas, build conviction and manage their portfolios. You’ll hear frameworks for analysing industries, understanding business models, and thinking about risk, behaviour and incentives, so you can refine your own process rather than copy stock tips.For show notes, transcripts and additional resources, visit our ⁠website⁠. If you value thoughtful, process-driven investing discussions, follow the show and consider leaving a short review, or just a 5* rating on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Please help spread the word.
Sep 15, 2021 · 1 hr 20 min
#2 The Risk Taker - Stuart Roden on the 5 Keys to a Successful Fund & Building a $10bn Hedge Fund at Lansdowne
In this fascinating interview, Stuart Roden, former Chairman of Lansdowne Partners, explains the 5 keys to a successful fund, how his 25 year partnership with Pete Davies produced one of the most successful hedge funds in the UK and how now managing venture capital is a different, yet similar, game. I have known Stuart for over 25 years but I learned more in this hour about his philosophy than I had previously. He has a winning combination of a razor sharp intellect, a love of markets, a wealth of experience and a nose for a winning idea. In this interview, we hear how he was tempted to fire a client, the 5 key factors to run a successful fund, why you are either an analyst or a portfolio manager, how handwriting can reveal whether you will be a good employee, and how he and Pete Davies ran an incredibly successful $10bn hedge fund. I know you will enjoy listening to this as much as I enjoyed recording it. Full show notes here Behind the Balance Sheet is a forensic accounting and fundamental investing podcast for serious investors. Each episode dives into how real‑world investors source ideas, build conviction and manage their portfolios. You’ll hear frameworks for analysing industries, understanding business models, and thinking about risk, behaviour and incentives, so you can refine your own process rather than copy stock tips. For full show notes, transcripts and additional resources, visit our ⁠website⁠. If you value thoughtful, process-driven investing discussions, follow the show and consider leaving a short review, or just a 5* rating on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Please help spread the word.
Aug 19, 2021 · 48 min
#1 Two Titans - John Armitage & Brent Hoberman on Hedge Funds, Entrepreneurship & Two Very Different Paths to Investment Success
Two investors who went to the same school, then to Oxbridge, and have been awarded the CBE (*). They are both titans in their fields but through very different routes. One has run his hedge fund firm for 27 years, has been incredibly successful as evidenced by $28bn AUM, yet is so under the radar that few have heard of him. The other has started multiple companies, is a business celebrity and is recognised as one of the most successful people in UK tech. Full show notes here Behind the Balance Sheet is a forensic accounting and fundamental investing podcast for serious investors. Each episode dives into how real‑world investors source ideas, build conviction and manage their portfolios. You’ll hear frameworks for analysing industries, understanding business models, and thinking about risk, behaviour and incentives, so you can refine your own process rather than copy stock tips. For full show notes, transcripts and additional resources, visit our website. If you value thoughtful, process-driven investing discussions, follow the show and consider leaving a short review, or just a 5* rating on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Please help spread the word.
Aug 9, 2021 · 1 min
Podcast Trailer
Our new podcast is focused on equity investing. We shall meet leading investors and commentators and educate ourselves about the world of investing and the world. Our mission is to remove some of the mystique around investing and improve our understanding of what makes a successful investment, or indeed an unsuccessful one. We shall look in particular at the conjunction of venture and quoted stocks investing and interview practitioners, current and retired. Our goal is to inform, educate and entertain – we hope you every episode.