The Founder
The Firm Built for Challenge.
A specialised advisory firm built on intellectual rigour, independence, and principal-led delivery.
Our Philosophy
Marentis Labs was founded on a single premise: the most significant threats to complex organisations are not the risks they identify, but the flawed assumptions they fail to challenge. Conventional strategic planning is often an exercise in reinforcing consensus. We provide a necessary, independent challenge function.
Our method is adversarial by design. Every governance framework we work with is stress-tested, every assumption examined, every control challenged. Not to find fault, but to ensure that when a board or a regulator asks the hard questions, the answers are already in place.
We operate as a Strategic Governance as a Service firm: adding value by fortifying the decision-making process and challenging assumptions. Confidence grown from a rigorous, independent, adversarial challenge function is the most effective risk mitigation strategy of all.
Principal-Led Delivery
The team that pitches is the team that delivers. Direct, undiluted access to senior expertise, with no handoff to junior consultants.
Focused on Value
Lean structure means client fees invest in expertise, not overhead. Higher concentration of senior delivery for the investment.
The Founder
Owen Vallis
Managing Director & Founder
Marentis Labs Ltd
Strategic Risk Executive
Financial Services Group Chief Risk Officer & Independent Non-Executive Director
Owen Vallis applies two decades of senior experience in institutional governance and strategic risk management to stress-test corporate strategy and investment decisions. His perspective was formed at the highest levels of global finance, including senior risk leadership roles at Credit Suisse, JP Morgan, and Morgan Stanley. As the first Group Chief Risk Officer for SICO Bank, he overhauled the organisation's holistic risk management function, reporting directly to the Board.
This executive experience is complemented by a distinct understanding of board-level oversight from his non-executive appointments in the public and non-profit sectors, including service on the Audit and Risk Committee for a government arms-length body that reports directly to Parliament, and as Chair of Active Prospects whose revenue has more than tripled during his Board tenure.
His experience as both a senior executive accountable to a board and a non-executive director providing its oversight creates a distinct perspective: the insight required to identify the flawed assumptions and hidden vulnerabilities that undermine performance.
Career & Board Experience
Executive Career
SICO Bank
Group Chief Risk Officer
First Group CRO across a $6bn AUM institution spanning three jurisdictions. Led Risk Framework overhaul, regulatory capital strategy, and board-level risk governance from inception.
Credit Suisse
Head of Fiduciary Risk, UK
Governance and risk oversight of £50bn+ AUM across equities, fixed income, multi-asset, CLO funds, Infrastructure funds and real estate. Regulatory engagement on fund governance, capital management strategies and fiduciary risk requirements.
JP Morgan
Vice President, Asset Management Risk Management
Risk architecture for a $245bn institutional client platform migration. Institutional clients across all asset classes. Delivered without material client loss or regulatory incident.
Morgan Stanley
Advisory Role
Early-career experience in advisory roles across risk and governance, establishing patterns of regulatory engagement and complex institutional problem-solving.
Board & Governance Experience
Active Prospects
Chairman
Supported the executive team in achieving a >300% financial turnaround over five years, growing annual revenue from £6.5m to more than £22m. Board professionalisation, committee restructure, and governance practice elevated to sector-leading standard. Number 8 in the Great Place to Work 2026 rankings for large organisations (greatplacetowork.co.uk)
Children's Commissioner
Non-Executive Advisor, Audit & Risk Committee
NED on the Audit and Risk Committee of a statutory body reporting directly to Parliament. Governance guidance on audit, risk, internal controls, and parliamentary oversight expectations.
EdAct Trust
Non-Executive Director - Trust Member
Governance and strategic guidance across an educational trust managing multiple school settings.
Regulatory Experience
FCA
Financial Conduct Authority
PRA
Prudential Regulation Authority
NAO
National Audit Office
CBB
Central Bank of Bahrain
FINMA
Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority
CSSF
Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier, Luxembourg
CMA
Competition & Markets Authority, Saudi Arabia
SCA
Securities & Commodities Authority, United Arab Emirates
Company Registration
Registered Address: 167–169 Great Portland Street, 5th Floor, London, W1W 5PF | United Kingdom Company Number: 16600357 | A Private Limited Company Registered in England and Wales | [email protected]