Gavin Chia,
who built Moomoo Singapore from scratch and then spent roughly eight months
running IG Group's local operation, has joined AI-focused online brokerage
Longbridge as Singapore and Regional Chief Executive Officer for Southeast
Asia, the company said today (Monday).
Singapore Summit: Meet the largest
APAC brokers you know (and those you still don't!)
Chia
officially started in the role on May 5 and will oversee Longbridge's expansion
across the region, where the firm operates under a Capital Markets Services
license granted by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
The
appointment closes a short chapter at IG Singapore, where
Chia took charge in September 2025 with public plans to expand the British
broker beyond CFDs into multi-asset
Multi-Asset
Composed of varying asset classes, multi-asset is a blanket designation combining different classes such bonds, equities, cash equivalents, fixed income, and alternative investments.When compared to traditional balanced funds, multi-asset solutions differ because they target specific investment outcomes. This includes outcomes such as return above inflation as opposed to gauging performance against standardized benchmarks.Given the composition of multi-asset classes, they need to be dynamically
Composed of varying asset classes, multi-asset is a blanket designation combining different classes such bonds, equities, cash equivalents, fixed income, and alternative investments.When compared to traditional balanced funds, multi-asset solutions differ because they target specific investment outcomes. This includes outcomes such as return above inflation as opposed to gauging performance against standardized benchmarks.Given the composition of multi-asset classes, they need to be dynamically
Read this Term trading. His exit makes Longbridge his
third Singapore brokerage in just over five years.
From Moomoo Founder to
IG's Eight-Month CEO
Chia is
best known as one of the founding employees of Futu Singapore, the local unit
of Hong Kong-listed Futu Holdings, which operates internationally
under the moomoo brand. He joined as Managing Director in
October 2020, stepped up to CEO of Moomoo Singapore in June 2023, and held
that role until September 2025.
During his
Moomoo tenure, Chia oversaw the broker's growth to a stated 1.5 million users
by mid-2025 and the launch of moomoo Malaysia in February 2024, according to
the company's own disclosures.
He also led
the local entity's licensing as the first digital brokerage in Singapore to
receive a Major Payment Institution license for digital payment token services
from the MAS, in July 2024.
"I
believe the future of investing lies at the intersection of technology, product
innovation, and user experience," Chia said.
"An
AI-first brokerage should embed AI across the entire client journey to simplify
complexity, enable personalized insights at scale, and support more informed
decisions in real time.”
Longbridge Targets the
AI-Driven Investing Race
Founded in
March 2019 and originally headquartered in Singapore, Longbridge operates a
brokerage covering US, Hong Kong, and Singapore stocks.
The company
says it has raised more than $150 million in funding to date and holds 22
financial licenses across the United States, Singapore, Hong Kong, and New
Zealand.
The
Singapore entity, Long Bridge
Bridge
The bridge or liquidity bridge is an essential component for brokers that are enabling their clients to trade at interbank rates directly via a Prime Broker or a Prime-of-Prime (PoP). While market makers do not require a bridge in order to service their clients, brokers which are sending through orders to a liquidity provider or an electronic execution venue need a bridge to connect their trading platform to the interbank market.Bridges are used extensively in forex trading, specifically for Met
The bridge or liquidity bridge is an essential component for brokers that are enabling their clients to trade at interbank rates directly via a Prime Broker or a Prime-of-Prime (PoP). While market makers do not require a bridge in order to service their clients, brokers which are sending through orders to a liquidity provider or an electronic execution venue need a bridge to connect their trading platform to the interbank market.Bridges are used extensively in forex trading, specifically for Met
Read this Term Securities Pte. Ltd., holds Capital Markets
Services license CMS101211 and is registered as an Exempt Financial Adviser.
The
platform offers zero-commission stock trading and markets an AI agent called
PortAI, which the company describes as the industry's first financial GPT.
Singapore Becomes a
Battleground for Retail Brokers
The hire
lands in one of the busiest periods for retail broker expansion in Singapore in
years. Robinhood received in-principle approval from the MAS in April for a
brokerage license, while Capital.com has been recruiting locally as part
of its own application.
Saxo Bank
has rolled out a premium tier for wealthier Singapore clients, and CMC Markets
is restructuring its local entity ahead of a multi-asset platform launch.
Investment Trends research published earlier this year showed
Singapore's leverage trading market is shifting from new account acquisition
toward reactivating dormant traders, with crypto now accounting for more than
40% of activity and AI tools rising fast among users.
The number
of active online traders has fallen from 264,000 in 2023 to about 248,000 in
the most recent count.
Longbridge
sits in a more direct fight with Moomoo and Tiger Brokers than with IG, since all
three compete on stock trading, zero-commission pricing, and an AI-driven
product narrative.
Moomoo
launched its own agentic trading tool, moomoo API Skills, in April, a month
after eToro pushed into the same area. Longbridge's PortAI predates several of
those launches but has carried a lower profile in mainstream broker rankings.
A Third Brokerage in Five
Years
For Chia,
the Longbridge job marks a turn from the established listed brokers where he
has spent most of his career. Before joining the founding team at Futu
Singapore, he held senior roles at UOB Kay Hian, Haitong International
Securities, PhillipCapital, CIMB, CMC Markets, Kim Eng Securities, and DBS Bank
across more than 18 years in financial services.
Longbridge
said Chia's remit at the firm will cover Singapore and the broader Southeast
Asia region, including regional strategy, product localization, regulatory
work, and team building as the company scales its AI-driven investing platform.
Gavin Chia,
who built Moomoo Singapore from scratch and then spent roughly eight months
running IG Group's local operation, has joined AI-focused online brokerage
Longbridge as Singapore and Regional Chief Executive Officer for Southeast
Asia, the company said today (Monday).
Singapore Summit: Meet the largest
APAC brokers you know (and those you still don't!)
Chia
officially started in the role on May 5 and will oversee Longbridge's expansion
across the region, where the firm operates under a Capital Markets Services
license granted by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
The
appointment closes a short chapter at IG Singapore, where
Chia took charge in September 2025 with public plans to expand the British
broker beyond CFDs into multi-asset
Multi-Asset
Composed of varying asset classes, multi-asset is a blanket designation combining different classes such bonds, equities, cash equivalents, fixed income, and alternative investments.When compared to traditional balanced funds, multi-asset solutions differ because they target specific investment outcomes. This includes outcomes such as return above inflation as opposed to gauging performance against standardized benchmarks.Given the composition of multi-asset classes, they need to be dynamically
Composed of varying asset classes, multi-asset is a blanket designation combining different classes such bonds, equities, cash equivalents, fixed income, and alternative investments.When compared to traditional balanced funds, multi-asset solutions differ because they target specific investment outcomes. This includes outcomes such as return above inflation as opposed to gauging performance against standardized benchmarks.Given the composition of multi-asset classes, they need to be dynamically
Read this Term trading. His exit makes Longbridge his
third Singapore brokerage in just over five years.
From Moomoo Founder to
IG's Eight-Month CEO
Chia is
best known as one of the founding employees of Futu Singapore, the local unit
of Hong Kong-listed Futu Holdings, which operates internationally
under the moomoo brand. He joined as Managing Director in
October 2020, stepped up to CEO of Moomoo Singapore in June 2023, and held
that role until September 2025.
During his
Moomoo tenure, Chia oversaw the broker's growth to a stated 1.5 million users
by mid-2025 and the launch of moomoo Malaysia in February 2024, according to
the company's own disclosures.
He also led
the local entity's licensing as the first digital brokerage in Singapore to
receive a Major Payment Institution license for digital payment token services
from the MAS, in July 2024.
"I
believe the future of investing lies at the intersection of technology, product
innovation, and user experience," Chia said.
"An
AI-first brokerage should embed AI across the entire client journey to simplify
complexity, enable personalized insights at scale, and support more informed
decisions in real time.”
Longbridge Targets the
AI-Driven Investing Race
Founded in
March 2019 and originally headquartered in Singapore, Longbridge operates a
brokerage covering US, Hong Kong, and Singapore stocks.
The company
says it has raised more than $150 million in funding to date and holds 22
financial licenses across the United States, Singapore, Hong Kong, and New
Zealand.
The
Singapore entity, Long Bridge
Bridge
The bridge or liquidity bridge is an essential component for brokers that are enabling their clients to trade at interbank rates directly via a Prime Broker or a Prime-of-Prime (PoP). While market makers do not require a bridge in order to service their clients, brokers which are sending through orders to a liquidity provider or an electronic execution venue need a bridge to connect their trading platform to the interbank market.Bridges are used extensively in forex trading, specifically for Met
The bridge or liquidity bridge is an essential component for brokers that are enabling their clients to trade at interbank rates directly via a Prime Broker or a Prime-of-Prime (PoP). While market makers do not require a bridge in order to service their clients, brokers which are sending through orders to a liquidity provider or an electronic execution venue need a bridge to connect their trading platform to the interbank market.Bridges are used extensively in forex trading, specifically for Met
Read this Term Securities Pte. Ltd., holds Capital Markets
Services license CMS101211 and is registered as an Exempt Financial Adviser.
The
platform offers zero-commission stock trading and markets an AI agent called
PortAI, which the company describes as the industry's first financial GPT.
Singapore Becomes a
Battleground for Retail Brokers
The hire
lands in one of the busiest periods for retail broker expansion in Singapore in
years. Robinhood received in-principle approval from the MAS in April for a
brokerage license, while Capital.com has been recruiting locally as part
of its own application.
Saxo Bank
has rolled out a premium tier for wealthier Singapore clients, and CMC Markets
is restructuring its local entity ahead of a multi-asset platform launch.
Investment Trends research published earlier this year showed
Singapore's leverage trading market is shifting from new account acquisition
toward reactivating dormant traders, with crypto now accounting for more than
40% of activity and AI tools rising fast among users.
The number
of active online traders has fallen from 264,000 in 2023 to about 248,000 in
the most recent count.
Longbridge
sits in a more direct fight with Moomoo and Tiger Brokers than with IG, since all
three compete on stock trading, zero-commission pricing, and an AI-driven
product narrative.
Moomoo
launched its own agentic trading tool, moomoo API Skills, in April, a month
after eToro pushed into the same area. Longbridge's PortAI predates several of
those launches but has carried a lower profile in mainstream broker rankings.
A Third Brokerage in Five
Years
For Chia,
the Longbridge job marks a turn from the established listed brokers where he
has spent most of his career. Before joining the founding team at Futu
Singapore, he held senior roles at UOB Kay Hian, Haitong International
Securities, PhillipCapital, CIMB, CMC Markets, Kim Eng Securities, and DBS Bank
across more than 18 years in financial services.
Longbridge
said Chia's remit at the firm will cover Singapore and the broader Southeast
Asia region, including regional strategy, product localization, regulatory
work, and team building as the company scales its AI-driven investing platform.
