The Name
Why value creation is the new frontier of management consulting
Velia Partners was established in 2026 by Vito Mennella, who left a senior management position at UK FTSE-listed insurer Aviva with three simple convictions.
- 01 Management consulting should partner with clients to add and create value to their business and objectives.
- 02 Strategy design and execution shall go hand in hand — they are two sides of the same coin.
- 03 Strategy consulting and M&A advisory benefit from complementary skills, and can be offered in one practice alone.
The firm's name derives from Velia, an ancient city renowned in the classical world as a center of philosophical inquiry — a place where ideas were examined rigorously, without deference to convention. At Velia Partners, we take the same approach to a client issue or goal.
The Founder
Vito Mennella
Founder & Managing Partner
Two decades advising leadership teams and their Boards, leading the execution of value creation strategies (growth, M&A, synergies) across financial services — from strategy design and deal thesis to synergy and integration realised.
Corporate Career · UK
- 2026M&A Director — Sesame Bankhall Group (subsidiary of Aviva Insurance, Wealth & Retirement), London, UK
- 2023–25Advice Strategy Director & Director of Connected & Customer Wealth — Aviva Wealth, London, UK
- 2022–23Advice Strategy Director & Succession Wealth Integration & Synergy Programme Lead — Aviva Wealth, London, UK
- 2020–22UK Life Strategy Lead (Head of) — Aviva Insurance, Wealth & Retirement, London, UK
- 2019–20Group Strategy Lead (Head of) — Aviva plc, London, UK
- 2017–19Group M&A Lead (Head of) — Aviva plc, London, UK
Investment Banking & Corporate Finance · UK & Italy
- 2013–16Vice President, FIG Advisory — HSBC Global Banking & Markets, London, UK
- 2010–13Associate, Investment Banking Division — Nomura International, London, UK
- 2007–10Associate, FIG & Corporates — KPMG Corporate Finance, Milan/Bologna, Italy