BHA monitors financial conduct notice placed on Twiston-Davies yard sponsor - but trainer says he has 'no concerns'

The BHA is monitoring a notice placed on a wealth management company by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to determine whether the order has any implications for the firm’s racing sponsorship.

Courtiers Investment Services sponsors Nigel Twiston-Davies’s yard and has been the subject of an FCA requirement notice which restricts the organisation’s trade so that it cannot accept, or dispose of, client assets without first obtaining permission from the City watchdog.

The requirement, which was voluntarily agreed in March and published on the FCA website, was enforced following a number of acquisitions by the Oxfordshire-based firm, which manages assets on behalf of clients worth approximately £1 billion.

Despite the restriction on accepting new clients, Courtiers is advertised on the home page of Twiston-Davies’s website, with horses wearing sponsored paddock rugs and the company website being carried on the silks of the yard's runners, including on ITV Racing.

In a job description for a brand publisher from 2023, Courtiers said its use of sponsorship was to “broaden exposure opportunities for Courtiers and elevate the sponsored brands”.

When asked about Courtiers’ racing sponsorship, a BHA spokesman said: “The BHA is aware of the FCA notice in relation to Courtiers and is reviewing the detail of it to understand what, if any, implications there may be arising from it.”

Courtiers is run by chief executive Jamie Shepperd, who owns the likes of Master Chewy and Idalko Bihoue with Twiston-Davies and previously raced high-class hurdler I Like To Move It, who won the 2022 Greatwood Hurdle at Cheltenham and last year’s Kingwell Hurdle at Wincanton.

Nigel Twiston-Davies: "We have absolutely no concerns at all about it"Credit: Edward Whitaker

Contacted by the Racing Post, Twiston-Davies said he had not been informed of the FCA requirement notice by the BHA or by Shepperd, but added that he had no qualms about the yard sponsorship.

“We have absolutely no concerns at all about it,” the dual Grand National-winning trainer said.

In a statement displayed on the home page of its website, Courtiers said: “Courtiers Investment Services Limited has voluntarily agreed with the FCA to abstain from accepting new business, whilst it consolidates recent acquisitions and embeds essential business oversight functions with our new client management framework designed to enhance client service. Courtiers is willing to meet the FCA requirement and return to business as usual.”

Sponsorship in British racing is governed by the BHA's sponsorship code of conduct, which determines who is able to sponsor, the minimum values for sponsorships and where branding can be carried on silks, racing grooms and paddock wear.

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