Alvin Chia

Alvin Chia is Senior Vice President and Head of Digital Assets Innovation for Asia Pacific at Northern Trust. He is responsible for developing market-leading innovations aligned to Northern Trust's digital asset strategy, and works closely with fintechs, industry bodies, regulators, and government entities to influence market change in the region. [1]​[2]​

Early Life & Education

Alvin Chia pursued his undergraduate studies at the National University of Singapore (NUS), where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in History. He also attended Nanyang Technological University (NTU). He is currently completing a doctoral degree in digital innovation at NUS. ^[1]​

Career Trajectory

Before joining Northern Trust, Chia held academic positions at the National University of Singapore and worked in roles at the Ministry of Education, the Singapore Book Council, and Marshall Cavendish. He authored the book "Hackathons Unboxed: A Field Guide To Ideating, Leading and Winning" (2017–2024).

He served as Vice President of Innovation at DBS Bank, where he worked on the development of digital products and services across Asia. From 2021 to 2022, he worked at Bain & Company as an Expert Senior Manager of Innovation, advising senior leaders of large companies on strategic initiatives. ^{[2] [1]}​

Northern Trust Leadership

Alvin joined Northern Trust in November 2022 as Head of Digital Assets Innovation for Asia Pacific, based in Singapore. He reports to Justin Chapman, Northern Trust's Global Head of Digital Assets and Financial Markets, and the role sits within the firm's Digital Assets and Financial Markets group, launched in June 2022. Chia has contributed insights and whitepapers on topics including blockchain interoperability for secondary trading of tokenized real-world assets. ^{[3] [4]}​

Contributions to Industry & Public Engagement

Since 2023, Chia has been the Chair of the Digital Assets Working Group at the Australian Custodial Services Association (ACSA).

He has participated in public events such as an LSEG Insights panel in Sydney and an InvestOps Asia fireside chat on digital assets transformations, and has written on topics including scaling digital assets, standards, and ecosystem development. ^[5]​

Other Roles

Since 2023, Chia has served as Chair of the Digital Assets Working Group at the Australian Custodial Services Association (ACSA). [6]​

Since 2024, he has been a Member of the School Advisory Committee at the Ministry of Education, Singapore, and a Member of the Fundraising Committee at the Singapore Book Council. [6]​