Our Focus

In a world filled with growing risk and uncertainty, our purpose as a company has never been clearer – we give people and organizations the confidence they need to pursue their goals and ambitions. This purpose is core to our values, our business and how we operate. A critical element of this philosophy is to help people when they are down. This extends to the support that we provide to our clients as well as to the communities where we do business, the culture that we strive to grow at AXIS, and the positive impact that we intend to make on society.

To help realize our purpose, we are growing our corporate citizenship program in the areas where we believe we can make the greatest impact. 

Protecting our Planet

Climate-related risks are among the most serious issues facing the world today. We recognize that it is our duty to contribute to building and strengthening organizational and societal resilience, while delivering value to our shareholders and other stakeholders. This is why we launched an enterprise-wide program to identify ways to significantly scale up our environmental and climate-risk strategy and initiatives. We are intensifying our review of environmental risks and opportunities posed by our underwriting and investment portfolios: to address climate risk and encourage a transition to a low-carbon economy, we recently announced a policy addressing thermal coal and oil sands-related underwriting and investments. We also anticipate the increased adoption of renewable and alternative energies as part of this transition, and we are continuing to invest in our Renewable Energy business, where AXIS is already a top global player. We are equally focused on minimizing our operational impact. We are proud that several of our buildings are LEED-Certified by the U.S. Green Building Council, and that our new London office is rated BREEAM Excellent.

Fostering Inclusion

We are building an organization grounded in the strength and diversity of our employees. We value and actively embrace different perspectives and experiences, and we are focused on creating a culture of inclusion. We are scaling up our diversity and inclusion (D&I) efforts by introducing a formalized approach that includes:

• Employee Engagement: We provide forums where our employees can share their thoughts, ideas and recommendations. This includes the formation of a global D&I Council composed of staff volunteers.
• Awareness and Development: We have introduced education programs for teams across all levels. This has included mandatory global unconscious bias training for AXIS colleagues throughout our offices across the globe. 
• Compensation Planning: We conduct annual pay equity reviews.
• Succession Planning: We introduced a business-aligned strategy for increasing the number of women and ethnic minorities in executive-level positions.
• Recruitment and Mobility: We prioritize having diverse interview slates, as well as identifying career mobility opportunities for existing staff where possible.   
• Community Support and Advocacy: We are leveraging our industry position to help advocate on D&I issues. This includes supporting initiatives such as Dive In, the United Nations program Girl Up, and local efforts in the communities where we do business.
• Tools and Measurement: We have invested in human capital management (HCM) tools to establish, report and track benchmark metrics progress.  
• Inclusive Culture: We have evaluated and updated policies and benefits that contribute to a more inclusive work environment that includes enhancing our parental leave and remote work policies.

Investing in our Communities

We have a long history of supporting charitable causes that align with our values, and our giving comes in many forms. Many of our employees are actively engaged in their communities, and more than half participate in the AXIS Global Day of Giving Rally, a period of time when colleagues can use paid time off to volunteer at local organizations. We also offer one additional paid day off to volunteer at any point during the year. In 2018, AXIS employees participated in more than 50 events across the world, helping at local food pantries, teaching children about issues such as insurance and cybersecurity, and supporting environmental programs. As part of our investment in communities, AXIS also sponsors a Matching Gift Program. Read more about how our commitment to community is core to life at AXIS, here.

Using our Voice to Advocate for Change

We engage with organizations that drive awareness and action important to our communities and our industry. Through partnerships with organizations such as Dive In; the Geneva Association; and the Insurance Development Forum (a partnership among the United Nations, the World Bank and members of the insurance industry), we advocate for issues that reflect our values and are important to our company, employees and communities. These include promoting equitable access to risk-protection advice, products and services, and looking for opportunities to leverage industry data and insights to encourage better risk management. We also will continue to identify issues linked to our corporate citizenship focus areas of environment, diversity and inclusion and community.

Governing Responsibly

The Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee of the AXIS board of directors provides oversight for these activities and policies. Day to day initiatives are managed by staff-driven committees.