What ‘growth phobic’ Sundaram Finance can learn from Eliud Kipchoge

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₹5,800 crore, it accounted for 14% of its funding mix. The company’s executives anticipate an even higher accretion this year. This is despite SFL not actively soliciting deposits.

Some borrowers have been the company’s fans, too. “In 1977, SFL funded the purchase of my first truck, and I have not looked back since," says Rajinder Singh, managing director, Janta Roadways. He now has 200 trucks, all car carriers.

Nonetheless, he now borrows from banks as they offer cheaper interest rates—1% to 2% cheaper than SFL.“Each truck I buy costs ₹50 lakh or more, and we replace at least 20 trucks a year," Singh reasons. But he also runs a fleet of cars that operate as taxis. They are now financed by SFL.

Despite the trust and goodwill that SFL has earned from its customers, it is not among the largest in the industry although it is one of the oldest. In its 70thyear of operation, its assets under management (AUM) totalled just ₹57,645 crore (including a housing business) in 2023-24. Its peers, who started off much later, have grown faster and bigger.

Take the case of Bajaj Finance Ltd. In 37 years, the company has built an AUM that is five times SFL’s. Other NBFCs—Shriram Finance Ltd, Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Company Ltd and Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services Ltd—are far bigger, too.

Some accuse SFL of being ‘growth phobic’ even when its disbursement last fiscal year, at ₹26,163 crore, grew by 25%. Analysts tracking the company attribute the slower built-up of AUM to its iron-clad focus on its core belief, which is to serve the underserved and conservatism such an approach has spawned. Its unique business model, which focuses on asset quality, is not primed for a fast pace of growth.