Barclays has put its name to a star-spangled literary conversation which took place at the 2012 Buxton Festival, as part of what seems to be an increasing trend of wealth management firms looking at thinking “out of the box” when it comes to sponsorship opportunities.

As part of its support of the opera, music and literary festival, Barclays sponsored the War Child to War Horse seminar, which saw Michael Morpurgo, writer of War Horse discussing his life with actress Joanna Lumley.

Literature and the arts are of course a big focus at Barclays, which is well-known for sponsoring the Hay Festival, which took place in Hereford in June. Industry experts say these types of events are particularly good value when it comes to reaching out to a broader swathe of potential clients than, say, a motor-racing sponsorship which may have limited appeal to women.

One particular approach which seems to be being deployed more and more is sponsorship of bespoke theatre or opera performances, creating intimate and really special events at which to woo clients.

For example, Banque Havilland and Butterfield Private Bank have both sponsored one-off opera performance in recent times – to great success, they say. Meanwhile, Barclays female client unit earlier in the year lent its support to an exclusive performance of the acclaimed play The Heresy of Love to mark International Women’s Day.