+37% in 2025 - by betting against the crowd.

Paul Mitchell doesn't work in finance. Never has. He taught himself to invest, and he did it by developing a simple habit: figure out where the consensus is wrong, take a position, and hedge the downside in case he's the one who's wrong.

"I tend to make money from having an opinion that goes against the current consensus and being right. I am not always right, the most important thing I have learnt is to hedge risk so the outcome is not so bad when I am wrong." - from his eToro profile

That's really the whole thesis. He's a value investor who looks for special situations. He's not right every time - his win rate is 59.7% - but he doesn't need to be. The wins are bigger than the losses. It's asymmetric by design.

The Numbers

Every year since joining eToro in 2021. The bad ones are here too.

Risk

His eToro risk score is 3 out of 10. Max drawdown across 5+ years: -13.12%. Nearly 60% of trades close in profit. He runs almost entirely without leverage - 93.5% of trades are low or none.

He manages $737K in assets under copy (AUC). This isn't paper trading.

What He Doesn't Do

No day trading. No chasing momentum. No leverage plays. Currently no crypto — not a hard rule, just doesn't like the market right now. He holds concentrated value positions and waits. When the thesis is wrong, the hedge limits the damage. When it's right, the position compounds.

"I don't like to lose money, and I take this seriously. This is not gambling." - from his eToro profile

Questions