aXa 2009 Activity & Corporate Responsibility Report Financials France 3 preparatiOn TRUST, DRIVE AND PROOF 2 0 0 9 Activity and Corporate Responsibility Report Background: AXA is a regional mutual insurance company in France that has become a global leader in insurance and asset management. The AXA ambition is to become the preferred company in the industry for all key stakeholder groups. To achieve this ambition, AXA identify key strategic priorities such as concern for staff development and company attitudes and values helping to establish long-term relationships built on trust. In 2005, the Company combined the ‘Annual Financial Report’ and the ‘Activity and Sustainable Development review’ which was a major stepchange as the reports had been separate since 1997. Interestingly, 2009 saw the document’s name change from ‘Activity and Sustainable Development Report’ to ‘Activity and Corporate Responsibility Report’ indicating a change in outlook within the Company. content review: The Report includes a 30 page section on corporate responsibility which outlines their commitments to various stakeholder groups and the environment. Each is then reported on at length by stakeholder groups, however, more focus is given to intent and actions rather than performance and supporting case studies. There is a clear commitment made to responsibility playing a prominent part of the governance model and being a mandate of Directors, in addition to responsibility being incorporated into the strategy. Further back in the Report there is a section entitled ‘our indicators’ which provides detailed social and environmental data, SRI ratings and assurance on a selection of environmental indicators published in the Report. In addition a correspondence table for GRI3, NRE and UNGC is provided. The corporate responsibility section itself comes across as a serious priority for the Company’s leadership, management team, employees and other stakeholders. Summary: Overall, the Report is written in a very inspirational style with clear recognition of their customers’ crisis in confidence and their need to reaffirm the future direction of the Company and its positive contribution to society. Although the Report does not explicitly link financial and non-financial performance, the set up and commitment at the beginning come across as sincere and genuine. There is an acknowledgement that the Company’s role extends beyond the strict boundaries of the business to seek to influence and support wider economic and social change; this is reinforced consistently throughout the Report. A good example of how a business is evolving to understand, prioritise and integrate sustainability across business, positioning it as a competitive advantage. 44 The integrated journey
