Our focus
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. We are identifying ways to significantly scale up our environmental and climate-risk strategy and initiatives, and we are intensifying our review of environmental risks and opportunities posed by our underwriting and investment portfolios.
Recent examples include:
We announced a policy addressing thermal coal and oil sands-related underwriting and investments, which we see as one way to address climate risk and encourage a transition to a low-carbon economy.
Anticipating the increased adoption of alternative energies as part of this transition, we are continuing to invest in our Renewable Energy business, where AXIS is already a top global player.
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 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
Awareness and Development
Succession Planning
Recruitment and Mobility
Community Support and Advocacy
Tools and Measurement
Investing in our communities
We engage with organizations that drive awareness and action important to our communities and our industry.
Many of our employees are actively engaged in their communities, and more than half participate in the AXIS Global Day of Giving Rally, our employee initiative granting up to 16 hours each year of paid time off for volunteering each
year.
In 2019, AXIS employees participated in more than 70 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 and provides opportunities for employees to tie donations to their employee volunteer initiatives.
Using our voice to advocate for change
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. Activities include:
- Involvement in the industry’s annual DiveIn Festival focused on diversity and inclusion
- Memberships in organizations focused on climate risk and other issues, such as the Geneva Association and the Insurance Development Forum, a partnership among the United Nations, the World Bank and members of the insurance industry
- Signatory of the Principles for Sustainable Insurance Initiative and United Nations Global Compact
- Sponsor and convener of events on issues important to us, such as the 2019 event focused on Climate Risk & Insurance at the University of Illinois
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 corporate policies and staff-driven committees.
Reporting
In 2020, we issued our first report aligned with Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) standards for the insurance industry. See the report, addressing year-ended December 31, 2019, linked here.
