David Mitchell, FRM — Risk Analyst
Education and Credentials
David completed his MSc in Financial Engineering from Imperial College London (2014) and his BSc in Mathematics from the University of Warwick (2012). He earned the Financial Risk Manager (FRM) designation from GARP in 2018 — a two-part exam covering quantitative analysis, financial markets and products, valuation and risk models, market risk measurement, credit risk, operational risk, investment management, and current issues in financial markets. FRM is the most-recognized risk-management certification globally, with 80,000+ active certified professionals.
Professional Experience
- 2024–present: Risk Analyst at Quotex Editorial — authors risk-management content, country-legality guides, position-sizing methodology
- 2020–2024: Senior Risk Manager at London proprietary trading firm — overseeing $500M derivatives book risk, daily VAR modeling, stress testing
- 2018–2020: Risk Analyst at J.P. Morgan London — equity derivatives risk for institutional clients
- 2014–2018: Quantitative Analyst at J.P. Morgan London — derivative pricing models, structured-product valuation
Areas of Expertise
- Position sizing methodology for retail derivatives traders
- Drawdown management and recovery mathematics
- Expectancy calculation: how to test if a strategy has positive expected value
- Kelly Criterion adapted for fixed-payout binary options
- Country-specific regulatory analysis: which retail-trading products are permitted in which jurisdictions
- Behavioral risk: identifying when a trader is taking too much risk based on psychological state
- AML/KYC frameworks and retail-trader compliance
Risk Management Philosophy
David's approach to retail-trader risk management is grounded in three rules: (1) 'Survive first, then optimize' — preservation of capital matters more than maximizing returns; a 50% drawdown requires 100% recovery to break even, while a 20% drawdown requires only 25%, so smaller risk-per-trade is structurally better even if expected returns are lower; (2) 'Math, not feel' — every position-sizing decision should follow a written rule (fixed 1–2% per trade is the most common), never an emotional 'I feel good about this one'; (3) 'Risk down, not up' — when you're losing, reduce position size; when you're winning, do not increase. Most retail blow-ups come from increasing size during winning streaks.
Recent Articles Written by David
- Quotex Risk Disclosure & Trading Warnings (/risk-disclosure/) — May 2026 (monthly review)
- Martingale Strategy: Math, Risks & Safer Alternatives (/strategies/martingale/) — May 2026
- Quotex India Trading Guide — regulatory section (/quotex-india/) — May 2026
- Quotex Pakistan Halal Analysis (/quotex-pakistan/halal/) — May 2026
- Position Sizing for Binary Options Traders (planned) — June 2026
Verifications and External Profile
- GARP FRM Certified Members Directory — verified active certification
- Imperial College Financial Engineering Alumni — verified graduate
- University of Warwick Mathematics Alumni — verified graduate
- J.P. Morgan alumni network — verified former employee 2014–2020
Quotex
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