In today’s rapidly evolving financial landscape, successful investing requires more than an understanding of markets, financial instruments and economic trends. It also demands discipline, emotional intelligence and the ability to make sound decisions under uncertainty. As artificial intelligence continues to reshape the financial services industry, the intersection of technology, behavioural psychology and investment management is becoming increasingly important.
Minwoo Lim, Director of Breiterman LLC, brings a distinctive perspective to this evolving landscape. His journey into investing began at the age of fifteen, eventually developing into a deeper exploration of financial markets, trading psychology and neuroscience. Having experienced both the opportunities and psychological challenges of investing firsthand, he has developed a philosophy centred on disciplined decision-making, risk management and consistent execution.
Through his work teaching investing and trading to more than 3,000 people across different regions, Lim identified a recurring challenge among individual investors: knowing what to do is often very different from actually doing it. This insight inspired the development of PnL App, a technology platform designed to help investors better understand their behaviour, manage emotions and follow their trading strategies.
His professional journey has also extended into international investment opportunities, including an invitation from the Government of Maharashtra during the World Economic Forum’s Davos week to discuss an investment memorandum of understanding (MOU).
In this exclusive conversation with UAE Times, Minwoo Lim discusses his evolution as an investor, the influence of psychology and neuroscience on financial decisions, the vision behind PnL App, the changing investment landscape across the Arab region, and his ambitions for the future of AI-driven financial services.
1. What first drew you to investing, and how has your approach developed over the years?
I first became interested in investing when I was fifteen. My father encouraged me to learn about stocks and investing, and that was where it all started. Initially, I watched programmes discussing stocks, followed market experts and gradually began learning and practising.
There is one moment I still remember very clearly. It was the summer of 2017, and I was in Korea, talking to a friend about planning a trip to Japan. Around that time, I started trading binary options. I made approximately $30,000 that day but later lost around $15,000, which was a difficult experience for me. It taught me that making money quickly did not necessarily mean I understood what I was doing.
After that experience, I began studying investing and trading as two different disciplines. I continued learning during my military service and alongside my university studies. I think many individual investors will recognise parts of my journey. You start by learning, then become impatient to make money. You begin relying on other people’s recommendations or trading signal groups and stop conducting your own research. You lose money, return to studying and eventually encounter psychological challenges that more knowledge alone cannot solve. I went through that process myself.
Over time, the questions I asked myself began to change. Initially, I would ask, “What should I buy that will go up?” Today, I focus more on questions such as, “What supports this decision? How much could I lose if I am wrong? Can I repeat this process consistently?”
With long-term investments, I examine the underlying value and whether my investment thesis remains valid. With trading, I focus on entry conditions, risk management and consistency in execution.
I have also learned that a profitable trade is not necessarily a good trade. You can break your rules and still make money, or make a well-reasoned decision and still incur a loss. Today, I place greater importance on the quality of my decisions and protecting my capital so that I can remain in the market over the long term.
2. How has studying psychology and neuroscience shaped your understanding of financial decisions and investor behaviour?
Studying psychology and neuroscience, particularly during my master’s degree, gave me a more logical framework for analysing my own behaviour. Previously, after experiencing a loss, I might simply have assumed that my market prediction was wrong. Now, I also examine how I arrived at that decision. Did I have sufficient evidence? Was I trying to recover a previous loss? Had a recent win made me underestimate the risks?
From a neuroscience perspective, I believe investing, trading and gambling have more in common than people sometimes realise. All three involve uncertain outcomes and financial rewards. Research into financial decision-making has linked activity in areas such as the nucleus accumbens, which is part of the ventral striatum, and the anterior insula to subsequent decisions involving reward and risk. Dopamine also plays a role in learning from the difference between the reward we expected and the outcome we actually received.
For me, the practical implication is straightforward: calling something an “investment” does not automatically make the behaviour rational. Two people can trade the same financial instrument, but one may be following a well-researched strategy and managing risk, while the other may simply be chasing excitement or trying to recover previous losses.
That is why I believe analysing yourself is just as important as analysing the market. I try to observe the situations in which my judgement changes and develop rules and an environment that help me respond more effectively. My academic background taught me to examine both the market and the person reacting to it: myself.
3. What inspired you to create PnL App, and how does it reflect your own experiences and investment philosophy?
While teaching investing and trading to more than 3,000 people across North America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia, I repeatedly encountered the same problems. People came from different cultures, traded different markets and followed different strategies, yet the points at which their behaviour broke down were often remarkably similar.
They would increase their position sizes to recover losses, move stop-loss levels they had previously committed to, or become overconfident after making money and take unnecessary trades. Someone could explain exactly what they should do and still struggle to follow their own rules when real money was involved. I understood this because I had experienced it myself.
PnL App was born out of that gap. I wanted to create something that would help people assess their state of mind and trading plans before entering a trade, record their emotions and mistakes, and reflect on their behaviour afterwards. Providing information is important, but helping people act on what they already know is equally important.
On a more personal level, I sometimes describe the role I want the app to play as that of a “mother figure.” As we grow older, we often have fewer people around us who will say, “You have done enough today,” “Stop and take a break,” or “Why are you making the same mistake again?” Trading can be particularly lonely because you make the decisions yourself and deal with their consequences yourself.
I want the app to be able to scold you when necessary, teach you when you do not understand something, and comfort you when you are going through a difficult time. Sometimes people need a firm reminder, while at other times they need reassurance. Helping users understand themselves, protect themselves and continue growing is the philosophy I want PnL App to represent.
4. You were invited by the Government of Maharashtra during WEF Davos week to sign an investment MOU. What did that experience mean to you, and how did it shape your outlook on international investment opportunities?
It was a very new and meaningful experience for me. I had started learning about investing at the age of fifteen because my father encouraged me to, and years later, I was invited by the Government of Maharashtra to discuss an investment MOU during Davos week. That meant a great deal to me personally.
The experience broadened my perspective on investment opportunities. As an individual investor, it is easy to concentrate primarily on prices and returns. However, international investment requires you to consider the direction of an industry, the regulatory environment, local partners, financing and whether a project can actually be delivered. It encouraged me to think more seriously about bringing people with different interests together around a common opportunity.
I also see an MOU as the starting point for turning an opportunity into something concrete. Due diligence, further discussions, financing and execution must follow before real value can be created. The experience made me more open to international opportunities while giving me a stronger sense of responsibility to develop the capabilities needed to follow through.
5. What key obstacles or challenges have you encountered on this journey, and what lessons have you learned as a leader working within the trading, finance and AI industries?
The first major challenge was my own behaviour. My understanding of the market developed faster than my ability to change how I behaved in it. Reading more information did not automatically resolve the impatience I experienced after a loss or the overconfidence that followed a win. I gradually began treating the acquisition of knowledge and the improvement of behaviour as two separate tasks.
As I moved from managing my own investments towards building an international business, challenges beyond the financial markets became increasingly important. For investors and traders considering relocation, there are several questions to address, including residence visas, tax residency, banking arrangements, brokerage accounts and the distinction between personal and company activities. In the UAE, tax residency must be assessed against the relevant requirements and applicable tax treaties. Personal investment income and business income may also receive different treatment under corporate tax rules.
Expanding from investing your own money into providing investment advice or managing other people’s assets introduces additional licensing considerations. In the DIFC, for example, firms require the appropriate DFSA authorisation for the financial services they intend to provide. Banking relationships also require proper documentation explaining where funds originated and how they moved. UAE Central Bank guidance requires financial institutions to assess sources of funds and wealth according to customer risk.
One important lesson I have taken from this is that investors need to manage two types of risk. There is the risk associated with market prices and investment positions, and there is the risk associated with the legal, tax and operational structures supporting their activities. Even a good strategy needs a solid foundation to operate sustainably.
I apply a similar lesson to leadership. Expecting people to make perfect decisions through willpower alone is unrealistic. We need structures that help people follow important principles, even when they are tired or under stress. I want to apply the same thinking to AI. Producing something quickly is useful, but there must also be clear processes for identifying mistakes, correcting them and taking responsibility.
6. From your perspective, how is the trading industry in the Arab world evolving, and what major trends or transformations do you anticipate in the years ahead?
I see greater market access, increased international participation and the development of more specialised financial services happening together, particularly in the UAE and Saudi Arabia. At the same time, different countries have different market structures and are developing at different speeds, so I would not consider the entire Arab region a single, uniform market.
The data indicates increasing trading activity and international participation. DFM’s traded value reached AED 162 billion in the first nine months of 2026, representing a 22% increase compared with the same period a year earlier. According to the UAE Capital Market Authority, the combined traded value on ADX and DFM reached AED 408 billion over that period, with foreign investors accounting for 49%. To me, this indicates that understanding UAE markets increasingly requires an understanding of international capital flows alongside domestic participation.
The financial services ecosystem is expanding as well. DIFC reported more than 500 wealth and asset management companies at the end of 2025, representing a 22% year-on-year increase. Saudi Arabia also expanded direct access to its Main Market to all categories of foreign investors from 1 February 2026, removing the Qualified Foreign Investor requirement. I see these developments as signs of markets becoming more internationally connected and professionally developed.
Based on these developments, I expect three changes to become particularly important over the next three to five years.
The first is increased competition in cross-border investment services. As market access improves, platforms will increasingly compete on account opening, fund transfers, access to information and customer support, in addition to their trading functionality.
The second is the ability to demonstrate trustworthiness. As institutional and international participation grows, licensing, asset custody, transparent costs, risk management and operational reliability will become increasingly important factors when choosing a financial services provider.
The third is the application of AI. I expect its role to expand beyond analysing markets and summarising information to supporting decision-making and execution. This could include checking risk before a trade, identifying recurring mistakes and helping users follow the rules they have already established for themselves.
This third area is particularly interesting to me. As more people gain access to financial markets, I believe services that help them manage their behaviour and risk, and remain involved over the long term, will become increasingly important.
7. What are your long-term goals, and how do you envision contributing to the growth of the trading and finance industries across the Arab region?
My long-term ambition is to establish a fund. I want to build an investment organisation where my investment philosophy and risk management principles can be tested and applied through a structured process.
At the same time, I want to use PnL App as the starting point for developing a behavioural execution layer: technology that connects the principles people establish with the actions they actually take. Investors already have tools to analyse markets and platforms to execute trades, but the question in between “Does this trade align with my plan and my rules?” still depends heavily on individual willpower.
PnL App begins with pre-trade checks, recording emotions and mistakes, reviewing decisions and providing feedback. It already connects with brokers and trading platforms, with users’ consent and according to settings they choose in advance. It also works across smartphones, tablets and computers, including iOS and Windows devices.
The aim is to help people follow their own rules regarding loss limits, position sizes and taking breaks, and remain committed to decisions they made when they were calm, even when their emotions begin to take over.
The fund and the technology come from the same underlying interest: understanding how to make better decisions under uncertainty and then execute those decisions consistently.
Based in the UAE, I want to work on this challenge alongside investors, financial institutions and technology companies across the Arab region. As market participation grows, I hope to contribute to building the foundations that enable people to manage both their capital and their behaviour throughout their investment journeys.
Editorial Conclusion
Minwoo Lim’s journey highlights an important dimension of modern investing: financial success is not determined by market knowledge alone, but also by the discipline and decision-making processes behind every investment. His experience across investing, neuroscience, trading education and financial technology reflects a growing recognition that behavioural intelligence can play a significant role in the future of financial services.
Through PnL App and his broader ambitions in investment management, Lim is exploring how technology can help bridge the gap between knowing the right decision and consistently acting on it. As the UAE and wider Arab region continue to strengthen their financial ecosystems and attract international participation, his focus on combining behavioural insights, AI and investment discipline offers an interesting perspective on the industry’s next phase of development.
