Chetan Karkhanis is a financial services executive based in Singapore. He is Senior Vice President at Franklin Templeton, where he leads the Franklin Innovation Research Strategies and Technology (FIRST) group for the Asia Pacific region. His background includes investment banking, corporate strategy, and work on digital assets.

Education

Chetan Karkhanis completed his undergraduate and postgraduate studies at Stanford University in California, earning a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and a Master of Science in Management Sciences and Engineering. Following his studies, he began his career in investment banking and equity research, covering the telecom, media, and communications sector.

Early Career — Investment Banking and Strategy

Karkhanis began his career in investment banking and equity research, covering the telecom, media, and communications sector. He held strategy and corporate development roles at Charles Schwab and Moody’s, and served as Vice President, Strategy and Development at JPMorgan Asset Management in New York City.

Franklin Templeton (2014–Present)

Karkhanis joined Franklin Templeton in 2014. He initially led the corporate strategy function within the Financial Strategies group. He later led product management for global equity platforms, including the Templeton Global Equity Group, Franklin Global Growth, and Balanced Equity Management (Australia), and served as Senior Product Management Lead for the Asia Pacific region. He currently serves as Senior Vice President in the FIRST group for APAC and holds the title SVP, Digital Asset Partnership Development. In his FIRST role, he works with fintech partners on new products and distribution channels related to digital assets and blockchain. ^[1]​

Digital Assets and Tokenisation Work

Franklin Templeton launched the first U.S.-registered mutual fund to use a public blockchain to process transactions and record share ownership in 2021, via the Benji Technology Platform. Franklin Templeton manages $1.74 trillion in assets under management. ^[2]​

Karkhanis was involved in Franklin Templeton’s APAC tokenisation and digital asset strategy. In May 2026, he represented Franklin Templeton in announcing a strategic partnership with DigiFT, a Singapore-regulated digital asset exchange, to distribute Benji Technology Platform tokenised fund products to institutional and accredited investors across Asia; DigiFT holds MAS Capital Markets Services and Recognised Market Operator licences, and Hong Kong SFC Type 1 and Type 4 licences. Also in May 2026, Franklin Templeton announced a partnership with Payward (parent company of Kraken) to offer Benji tokenised money market fund products through Kraken’s institutional platform. ^[2]​

At J.P. Morgan’s APAC Investor Services Forum in Tokyo in 2026, Karkhanis discussed how blockchain technology can reduce transaction costs and improve settlement speed, and emphasised the importance of regulatory clarity for tokenisation adoption at scale. ^[3] He was confirmed as a speaker at the Global Onchain Summit Singapore 2026. ^[4]​

Public Profile and Speaking

Karkhanis has spoken at institutional digital asset and fintech conferences across Asia Pacific, including ASIFMA events, GFTN Insights Forum, Financial Times FoAM Asia, and Consensus Hong Kong 2025. He was featured on the DigFin VOX podcast (episode 85), recorded in August 2024, discussing fintech in asset management, AI, blockchain, tokenisation, and venture investing in APAC.