SBI Pension Fund Private Limited: Caught in a Wicked Problem
Shubhabrata Basu
IIM Indore, India
Volume 11: 2016, pp. 197-228; ABSTRACT
This case study investigates the growth options available to SBIPFPL while facing a wicked problem. SBIPFPL, a pension fund company created as a private venture by the largest state owned bank (SBI) of India, was tasked with simultaneously developing a Government mandated, defined contribution pension product in a fragmented, underdeveloped market. Although the product was novel, traditional alternatives existed in the market. The cost incurred in promotion did not necessarily translate to accruable benefits for the firm. To complicate matters further, the fund management fee was kept prohibitively low, thus disincentivizing the efforts. With no available expertise to be drawn from local or global markets, divergent stakeholder interests, and limited scope for success, the case explores the decision dilemma of SBIPFPL top management who were caught between the choice of asset volume and asset returns as the preferred vehicle for growth.
.jpg)
