… assembling a global brand piece by piece. While Henri de Castries replaced Bébéar as CEO in 2000 and the company faced economic headwinds, AXA continued to produce strong returns. In … ("Hearts in Action") to encourage and support community engagement by employees, and in 2001 it established the Group’s first "sustainable development" function. But it wasn’t until 2008 that the company created a formal CR strategy. Following an internal study that argued …