Bureau meeting on 17 March, 2022
20.04.2022
For the first time, the new mandate of the EWC meets in hybrid mode hold in AXA building at La Défense in Paris
Andrea Matz, German delegate, Sophie Laventurier, Belgian delegate, Daniel Folgado, Spanish delegate and Toni Pastor, UNI representative, were able to make the trip despite the sanitary measures still in force in some countries.
After welcoming the participants, whether they were at a distance or in the room, Koen Hermans, Director of Compensation and Benefits and International Mobility & Director of Group Social Relations, opened the session by talking about the events in Ukraine. The Group, through a financial contribution and the actions of AXA Hearts in Action, as well as many employees, expressed their solidarity with the victims of the conflict. The members of the secretariat discussed the situation the previous day, mainly from a humanitarian perspective.
Presentation of the 2021 results
Alban de Mailly Nesle, Group Chief Financial Officer, presents the Group's results for 2021. This is a pivotal year for the Group, which is well placed to achieve the objectives of the 2023 plan. The group has moved from a model based on financial income to one focused on property and casualty, health and personal protection insurance. Climate remains a priority for the group through more sustainable underwriting. The structure of the group's actions for the future is based on three axes:
- Maintaining a strong balance sheet and good cash flow
- Reducing exposure to natural catastrophes, particularly in the XL Re business
- Improve the performance of AXA's business lines
For Hedi ben Sedrine, secretary of the AXA Works Council, the group's good health is good news. The challenge now is to get employees on board with the group's strategy. The latter is sometimes misunderstood, with a risk of losing interest. In the points regularly raised in the secretariat, the question of costs linked to smartworking is a recurrent one.
Alban had many questions about the announced merger of the group's internal reinsurer, AXA Global Re, with the holding company of the AXA group and the expected increase in claims due to climate change. Of course, the impact of the conflict in Ukraine on the Group was also discussed as an important current topic. The delegates asked questions about the dividend payment from the entities to the holding company and about the situation of certain entities, which will perform less well than others in 2021, notably because of the pandemic.
Presentation of cyber challenges within AXA
Cybersecurity and information risk management are critical issues for a group the size of AXA. Benjamin Ducros, Head of Information Risk Management for the Group, is behind AXA's Cybercercle, which brings together teams from all walks of life to create a culture of cybersecurity.
The stakes of these challenges are considerable and affect several levels: human and technical. There are several aspects to them:
- Security, in the sense of confidentiality,
- Reliability, in the sense of data availability
- Integrity, in the sense of having the correct data,
- Sustainability, in the sense of CO2 emissions
These aspects are assessed through multiple subjects such as information systems, networks, but also people, budgets and organisations. This requires cross-disciplinary skills, combining IT and the human factor and, of course, the security culture.
The level of risk is very high, relatively new and highly evolving. They require innovative management tools capable of helping the group to take decisions on the necessary measures in relation to the acceptable risk.
After a question and answer session, to which Benjamin responded enthusiastically, Hedi ben Sedrine reported on the work of the secretariat the previous day. The workshop on smartworking was very much appreciated by the EWC delegates and he hopes to be able to organise a new, more elaborate workshop during the year with the idea of building a charter at the global level.
Proposed changes to the rules of procedure, presented to the secretariat the previous day, were shared with the management. The aim is to be able to submit these changes to the June plenary if possible.
Find the notes of the secretariat (login required):