Under the renewed agreement, EFG will support the EFG–SGA Elite Young Golfers Scholarship alongside SGA’s junior development programmes. It will stay involved with these athletes over time, providing stability, overseas exposure, and support through the often-challenging transition from amateur to professional golf.

Building on a partnership that began in 2022, the collaboration has borne fruit, with EFG-sponsored athletes such as Shannon Tan and Chen Xingtong achieving milestones on the regional and international stage, the firm said in a statement. Their progress reflects the value of support during critical phases of development, particularly as young golfers move into higher-level competition.

Last August, EFG Bank (Singapore Branch) said it brought more players into its young golfer’s scholarship programme.

The story is also an example of how the worlds of investment, sponsorship and sports overlap. In March last year, another Swiss bank, UBS, hosted the UBS Golf Challenge 2025: Sergio García’s Swing Spectacular, at Singapore’s Tanah Merah Country Club (TMCC). UBS guests and young golfers from TMCC watched and learnt golf techniques from Spanish golf star Sergio García. Also, see this report from August 2024 about EFG’s programme, as highlighted above.

Private banks and other financial institutions have targeted “aspirational” sports such as golf, aligning their brands with the sport and tapping into the kind of interests that many affluent citizens have. There are other angles: banks have worked with owners of sports teams to manage the financial side of games, as in the case of Citigroup, outlined here.