- F1 deal starts immediately before expanding into IndyCar for start of 2027 season
- Contract includes primary sponsorship of Scott Dixon’s car at 2027 Indy 500
Financial services firm Edward Jones has told BlackBook Motorsport that the opportunity to deliver money-can’t-buy experiences was a key motivation behind its decision to sign a multi-year deal with McLaren Racing.
The long-term deal, which sees Edward Jones named official private wealth management partner of McLaren Racing, represents the company’s first foray into motorsport sponsorship and will cover both the Formula One and IndyCar teams.
The firm will begin activating the Formula One portion of its deal immediately and will then expand into IndyCar from the start of the 2027 season.
“It is our first foray into this space,” Hema Widhani, chief of brand, experience and marketing at Edward Jones, told BlackBook Motorsport.
“You might have noticed that we are getting into sponsorships in a pretty big way, and sports has been a flagship.
“But motorsport, in particular, as we’ve been talking to Zak [Brown] and McLaren, has been particularly interesting. [It has] a fast-growing fanbase, which is increasingly diverse and younger, as well as [being] at the intersection of the demographic and wealth profile of our current clients and the future clients that we are trying to go after.”
Since Widhani joined Edward Jones in June 2025, the firm has targeted sports sponsorship as a platform for engaging with potential new clients. A pre-existing ten-year deal with the St Louis Cardinals in Major League Baseball (MLB) was complemented by a major college sports deal in July covering Duke University, the University of North Carolina and the University of Oregon.
Now, the company plans to use motorsport to expand its client base through a more global platform.
“With the McLaren partnership, we are able to provide our clients these exclusive money-can’t-buy experiences that are really differentiated for us,” said Widhani. “The other piece is the combination of F1 and Indy[Car] from a geographic perspective.
“It has real upside for us because it starts to intersect with our current client base as well as our future client base from a geographic market perspective. There is a really neat geographical play here for us, which is in the markets that the races are in as well as the fanbase.”
The deal also includes primary sponsorship on the car of new McLaren driver and IndyCar legend Scott Dixon during next year’s Indianapolis 500, giving it additional exposure during the sport’s most high-profile event.
“We are truly excited and privileged for this partnership with him … he’s a legend and it’s our privilege to be associated with that,” Widhani explained.
“It gives us material visibility with the fanbase, our current and prospective clients. The other thing I would say is our value systems align, and that is critically important to us.
“We are a very value-based, purpose-driven organisation, and for us, it was really important that Scott [is] representing us as an extension of our brand, and we can feel that value system merge, and that is what we feel with Scott.”
Edward Jones will also serve as primary sponsor for additional IndyCar races throughout the season. In Formula One, the company will have branding on McLaren’s helmet visor at a select race and a presence at other marquee events.
While Widhani admits Edward Jones will have a more visible presence in IndyCar, she suggests the company’s activations will be balanced across both McLaren teams.
“Our goals actually cut across both quite equally,” she said. “We are very proud to have Scott represent the brand with him being a six-time champion.
“But the way I see it is the exclusivity from a private wealth management partner in F1 and IndyCar [with] the brand presence, the access, the money can’t buy experiences, the digital content – so I see it as much [more] of an equal play.”