The private markets investment firm has become Emirates GBR's official private markets partner, securing branding on the team's F50 catamaran and hospitality access. This continues a trend of wealth and investment firm building profiles via sport.

EQT has signed a multi-year sponsorship agreement with Emirates GBR, the UK team competing in the SailGP championship, running through to 2030. The Swedish private markets investment firm is the team's official private markets partner for the global SailGP calendar.

The deal will give EQT prominent branding on Emirates GBR's F50 catamaran, along with access to premium hospitality and stakeholder engagement opportunities at races held across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the Americas and Asia-Pacific.

The partnership is aimed at raising EQT's profile beyond its traditional institutional client base, as private markets products become more widely available to individual investors through wealth managers and private banks. The firm has also recently refreshed its global brand platform under the tagline "Better Never Ends."

Sponsorship of high-profile sport is a well-established route for private banks and wealth managers seeking to reach wealthy audiences outside conventional marketing channels. Standard Chartered and UBS are among the firms that have backed sailing and other elite sporting events as part of broader brand-building efforts, while Evelyn Partners and Mastercard have taken similar routes into other sports as a way of extending their reach among high net worth and mass affluent audiences respectively.

Another example of a yacht racing sponsorship link with wealth management is at blue-blooded European private banking group Edmond de Rothschild. In December last year it unveiled Gitana 18, the newest Maxi Edmond de Rothschild sailing vessel, at Lorient in France. Swiss banks Mirabaud and Syz also sponsor yachts in various competitions; UBS is the exclusive partner to the Yacht Club de Monaco – a link that makes sense considering UBS’s sponsorship of F1 motor racing, 

Banks' engagement with elite sport also goes beyond marketing. Citigroup and Deutsche Bank, for example, have described to this news service – see here and here, respectively – how they provide advisory and lending services to owners and prospective buyers of sports teams and franchises. 

SailGP, which launched in 2018, features national teams racing identical F50 catamarans. It has positioned itself as one of the fastest-growing global sports properties, citing that its audience has increased twelvefold increase since its launch.

Sir Ben Ainslie, chief executive and team principal of Emirates GBR SailGP Team, said: "At the heart of both our organisations is a drive to keep getting better through innovation, performance and teamwork. That reflects EQT's 'Better Never Ends' philosophy and perfectly captures what it takes to succeed in SailGP, where marginal gains, constant innovation and performing under pressure make all the difference."

At a recent Apex Labs conference in London, attended by WealthBriefing, Sir Ben gave a talk on the topic of sports as an asset class. Sports franchises, advertising, and the business affairs of sports folk, agents and team owners have become a distinct business segment. And there is also the point that sports, and the passions associated with them, help banks and advisors forge bonds with clients.