Shriram Group Announces Succession Plan – Board of Management to Oversee Promoters Interest
Chennai, November 30, 2021: Shriram Group, the financial services behemoth that spans Retail lending, Truck Finance, Housing finance, Life Insurance, General Insurance and Wealth Management businesses, today announced the formation of a Board of Management to drive the long-term vision and strategy for the Group. The Board of Management appointed by the Shriram Ownership Trust (SOT) constitutes 4 key personnel namely, Mr. DV Ravi, MD, Shriram Capital, Mr. R. Duruvasan, Whole-time Director, Shriram Capital, Mr. Umesh Revankar, Non-Executive Director, Shriram Capital & VC & MD, Shriram Transport Finance Company and Mr. Jasmit Singh Gujral, Non-executive Director, Shriram Capital & Executive VC for Shriram General Insurance Company. With the new leadership in place, founder R. Thyagarajan will mentor the Board of Management.
Explaining the transition, R Thyagarajan, the patriarch of the group said, “The growth of Shriram Group should be attributed to the strong leadership team, which has evolved over a period of time. The group started its foray in a small way through the chit fund operations and has steadily expanded its activities across the financial services and insurance spectrum. The leadership team, comprising senior executives across the group’s various entities has been instrumental in developing the enterprises to their current growth and profitability level.
During the last few years, there have been apprehensions about the succession planning of the Shriram Group. Though I have indicated that succession has been transitioned to SOT at various forums, there is an expectation of more insight on this transition.
Internally, we have been clear that the promoters stake in the Shriram Group, will be owned by its current and future leaders who will be the best custodians of Shriram’s future growth. The SOT was formed in 2006 with this objective. SOT is a private discretionary Trust, which will provide an opportunity for the current and future leadership of the group to be beneficiaries of the Trust. These beneficiaries will be responsible for the management of the Shriram Group. This set of individuals, with varied skills, will collaborate to drive the group’s vision and strategy. The Board of SOT constantly evaluates the performance of its leadership team. It keeps inducting additional members into the Trust to ensure the perpetuity of ownership and leadership to manage the Shriram Group.”
“In my various interactions, I have reiterated that one individual cannot manage a large group like ours. It requires a set of individuals with varied skills who can collaborate to drive the group’s vision and strategy.
In line with my conviction, a leadership team that will oversee the SOT’s interest, as the promoter of the Shriram Group, has been constituted” he added.
The team will be designated as the Board of Management and would comprise of the following members:
- D.V. Ravi Managing Trustee
- R. Duruvasan Trustee
- Umesh Revankar Trustee
- J.S. Gujral Trustee
This Board of Management would constitute the succession plan in SOT.
The Board of Management will be responsible for defining the long-term strategy of the individual entities and the group and overseeing its execution. The board members will manage essential areas that impact the group across entities and are not necessarily aligned to one particular entity. They will collaborate amongst themselves in a manner that will derive the optimum benefit to the group.
Over the years, the Shriram Group has kept the ‘Common man or Aam Aadmi’ at the centre of all their business decisions. It has consistently excelled in serving the under-served and focused on delivering prosperity to the bottom of the pyramid, whose needs have hitherto not been fully addressed by the organised financial sector players. Through its lending businesses, the group ensures that more than 95% of loans extended are channelised towards meeting the financial needs of this segment in the country. Shriram Transport Finance Company specializes in extending credit to commercial vehicle drivers, who wish to own a vehicle. Likewise, at Shriram City Union Finance, most of the Two-wheelers financed are to support the livelihood of the self-employed segment. The MSME business at Shriram City has been aptly termed as Small Business Finance, in line with the company’s ethos of serving the common man.
As we charter our next stage of growth, the Board of Management will strategically help all our operating entities to collaborate and strengthen our customer relationship model. In close collaboration with our partners in Shriram Capital – Sanlam, PEL, and TPG and the Board of Management of SOT will oversee the group’s growth and strategy in the next phase.
Further commenting on the announcement, Shriram Group Founder R. Thyagarajan said, “Over the course of my journey of 47 years, I have seen the sector evolve multi-fold because of the introduction of policies that has helped us serve the under-served. I am happy to submit that Shriram Group has always been synonymous with financial inclusion and has prioritized the socio-economic development of all its customers while delivering value to its stakeholders. We have withstood the test of time, have braved economic cycles, and have continued to build trust with our customers. This in itself is a testament of the competency and strength of our team. Our various companies have grown to become leaders in their specific businesses.”
“It has been a great journey so far and I am confident that Ravi, Duruvasan, Umesh and Gujral along with the other leaders, will do a stellar job of taking the group to new heights.” he added.
Commenting on the announcement, Mr. D V Ravi, MD, Shriram Capital, said, “Firstly, we all thank RT for having the vision, courage and determination to create an enterprise of this magnitude with a strong focus on the Aam Aadmi. The group has empowered over 21.6 million customers to achieve their dreams through the Shriram Group. I speak on behalf of all four of us, when I say we are excited to take up the responsibility of Board of Management at the Group. Our operating companies across lending & insurance businesses have grown in size and scale, and continue to have immense potential and capabilities. All of these are led by able management team and a professional board. Our role would be to extend strategic vision to them while keeping the interest the ‘Shriram’ brand and ethos that has been guiding light for the group over the last 4 decades.”
