IIM Lucknow Shines At TVS Credit E.P.I.C. Finance Challenge Season 4

TVS Credit E.P.I.C Challenge is one of the most awaited case study competitions for college students. When the fourth edition of the competition was launched back in September 2022, the excitement to be a part of this opportunity was high. We- Sheetij Aggarwal and Raevent Kaul, were supercharged to put all our technical learning and skills to use and provide the best solution for a real-life business problem. The challenge was split into four different tracks to offer something to everyone- Strategy Challenge, Finance Challenge, Analytics Challenge, and IT Challenge.

Both of us are pursuing MBA with a specialization in Finance & Strategy from IIM Lucknow, so we naturally chose the TVS Credit E.P.I.C Finance Challenge. This sub-sect of the competition received 3,27,673 impressions and 4,078 registrations. With the chance to win huge cash prizes as well as PPI opportunities for the summer internship and MT program at TVS Credit, we sure did not want to miss the train. So we called ourselves Team Invincibles and jumped started our journey to the national winner title. And boy, what a journey it was!

Competition Structure

The competition was very well framed and the case study was well articulated which pushed all the participants to use their financial acumen to prove their mettle. The competition format was as follows:

Round 1: Online Quiz
Round 2: Case Study Challenge
Round 3: Grand Finale

This case helped us to get a better understanding of the NBFC Industry and the nuances of M&A. It also aided us in improving our knowledge of the same. We also learned how important it is to think holistically from all dimensions and take care of the minuscule details and be as meticulous as possible in your approach to solving the problem statement.

Our Winning Strategy

The strategy we employed to build the winning solution can be summarized as follows:

• We began with gaining an in-depth understanding of the NBFC industry in India, how it operates, what are the key growth drivers, financial performance and operating performance metrics, and how to evaluate them. 
• We then started accumulating knowledge about M&A. i.e. the key things to be kept in mind while evaluating a target for acquisition. 
• We worked on the problem statement for about 3 weeks and reached out to the professors of IIM L as well to get their opinion and feedback on the direction that we were progressing in, with our analysis. 
• After building our solution, we needed to prepare the perfect presentation. For this, we structured the flow of the presentation logically so that each section was distinct but fit well into the overall narrative. 
• We also ensured to state assumptions wherever necessary in the presentation and took special care of all the calculations in the financial analysis and double-checked everything.

Incredible Jury Input & Suggestions

The Jury comprised senior management of TVS Credit including the CFO of the company Ms. Roopa Sampath Kumar. They gave us a lot of insights after our presentation, appreciated our work, and gave us suggestions to incorporate into the presentation. Before the final presentation, we also had one interactive session (masterclass) with senior leadership of TVS Credit - Ms. Meenu Sharma (Head - Business Planning for Retail) and Mr. Awneet Chaudhary (Head - Business Planning for Consumer Finance) which was the perfect platform to clear our queries and concerns with respect to the final presentation.

Check this out: Challenge Yourself With These B-school Competitions

Strategic Division of Tasks

Since we have been in IIM Lucknow for the past year, we have worked together for several case competitions and it has always been a great experience working together. We divide our work strategically according to our strengths right from the get-go and clearly defined what each of us needed to do. Sheetij took the lead on all the financial analysis parts while Raevent looked after the strategic analysis. We believe that teamwork and efficient distribution of tasks is crucial for successful delivery in team competitions. 

Most Memorable Moment

One of the most memorable moments for us was when we received words of appreciation and motivation from the CFO of TVS Credit - Ms. Roopa Sampath Kumar. She applauded us for all our efforts and especially mentioned that we had a good understanding of the NBFC space and had incorporated all the possible strategies and frameworks to make the solution more feasible and rational. She also said that the delivery of our presentation was very professional and perfect. We can’t be grateful enough for all the lessons TVS Credit E.P.I.C Finance Challenge has imparted to us. This was a brilliant journey to which we owe some of the most special experiences.

You might also be interested in reading the following articles:

1. Optum Stratethon Season 4 Paves Way For Better Health Care
2. ICICI Beat The Curve 2022 National Winner Saga From IIM Nagpur
3. Girl Crew From XIMB Conquers The Swiss Re ReImagine Challenge
4. Team Famous From IIM A Dazzles At IDFC FIRST Bank FAME Challenge
5. XIMB Steals The Show At Tata Steel-a-thon 2022 (Value Chain Track)