Axis Max Life Insurance

Client at a Glance

Axis Max Life Insurance (AMLI) is one of India’s leading life insurance providers, operating through a large branch network with diverse functional teams and high regulatory exposure. Operating in the highly regulated BFSI sector, the company faces dual pressure from SEBI’s BRSR mandates and IRDAI’s climate risk requirements. Recognising that sustainability required more than periodic reporting, Axis Max Life partnered with Oren to build a multi-year ESG operating model.

By adopting an "Outsourced Sustainability Team" approach and leveraging Oren Sustainability Hub (OSH), an AI-powered ESG data management platform to transitioned from fragmented spreadsheets to a board-governed, decarbonisation-focused leadership position.

The Challenge: Scaling ESG with Lean Internal Resources

As ESG expectations from global investors and regulators accelerated, Axis Max Life faced a significant "execution gap". The organisation had to solve for:

• Resource Constraints: The entire ESG mandate was initially managed by a single internal coordinator, creating a bottleneck for a company with hundreds of branches and thousands of employees.

• Massive Geographic Scale: Collecting reliable environmental data (energy, water, waste) across 400+ distributed locations was manually intensive and prone to significant errors.

• Governance Vacuum: At the start of the engagement, the company lacked a formal Board-level ESG Committee, a defined Charter, or standardised policies aligned with global benchmarks like the NGRBC.

• Regulatory Velocity: The firm needed to deliver a fully compliant, audit-ready BRSR report within a tight 4-to-6-month window during their first cycle, while also preparing for emerging IRDAI climate risk guidelines.

Oren’s Solution: A Multi-Year ESG Operating Model

Axis Max Life adopted a unique "One Team, One System" model: Oren functioned as the embedded sustainability department, with all workflows managed via Oren Sustainability Hub (OSH).

Year 1: Compliance, Governance, and Data Control

The first phase was about rapid institutionalisation and moving away from Excel.

• Governance Architecture: Oren structured the Board-level ESG Committee and drafted the Board ESG Charter. We performed a detailed gap analysis on their internal policies and upgrading them to align with international standards.

• System of Record: We implemented OSH as the central data backbone, replacing manual tracking with automated "Maker-Checker" workflows across the branch network.

• Rapid Compliance: Despite pandemic-related disruptions, we enabled a fully compliant BRSR submission within four months.

Year 2: Internal Controls and Value Chain Maturity

With the system live, the focus moved to data integrity and the supply chain.

• Accountability Framework: We defined specific data owners and auditors at the branch level, significantly improving traceability and audit readiness.

• Vendor Engagement: Utilising OSH’s Supply Chain module, we launched ESG maturity assessments for critical IT and facility vendors, laying the groundwork for Scope 3 emissions accounting.

Year 3: Operational Decarbonisation and Net-Zero Action

In the third year, the company shifted from reporting data to driving measurable impact.

• Target Setting: We helped define a voluntary target of 80% reduction in Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions.

• The "Green Power" Transition: Oren facilitated the switch to renewable energy for 9 branches in Maharashtra, effectively reducing their Scope 2 emissions to zero.

• Operational Efficiency: We identified and tracked high-impact interventions, including LED retrofitting, 5-star HVAC optimisation, and circular economy programmes for e-waste and paper waste.

Year 4 & Beyond: Advanced Disclosure and Climate Risk

The current phase focuses on aligning with global investor expectations and complex climate mandates.

• Assurance Readiness: OSH now provides a single, auditable dataset for third-party assurance, reducing reporting fatigue.

• Advanced Finance Integration: We are supporting the integration of ESG risk screening into investment decisions and preparing for IFRS-aligned disclosures and Double Materiality Assessments.

The Outcome: A Resilient, Scalable ESG Ecosystem

The partnership has transformed Axis Max Life into a front-runner in the insurance sector’s sustainability landscape.

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Complexities Managed

Building a sustainable model for a financial services giant required navigating sector-specific hurdles:

• High Regulatory Sensitivity: Ensuring the framework complied with both SEBI (for the listed entity) and IRDAI (for insurance operations), including voluntary "Leadership Indicator" disclosures.

• Fragmented Footprint: Orchestrating data collection from hundreds of locations by implementing standardised branch-level templates and virtual training workshops.

• Investment Portfolio Strategy: Moving beyond simple "exclusions" to developing an investment thesis focused on "Best in Class" ESG performers.

Conclusion

The journey of Axis Max Life Insurance demonstrates that ESG success is not driven by one-off reports but by long-term systems and execution.

By partnering with Oren as their outsourced sustainability department and utilising OSH as their data backbone, Axis Max Life has built a model that is scalable, audit-ready, and future-proof.

Today, sustainability is no longer a compliance task for Axis Max Life, it is a data-driven operating logic that ensures resilience, investor credibility, and environmental leadership in the Indian insurance market.