Russell Prior OBE

Russell leads the services providing family governance, family office advisory, family enterprise and wealth succession, philanthropy and social investment advice to clients across EMEA. This involves working with family businesses and families on the issues surrounding business ownership and wealth transition.

After a career in large corporate banking and wealth management, immediately before joining HSBC Russell was Executive Director at Charities Aid Foundation leading their philanthropy, corporate community investment and charity financial services in nine countries around the globe. 

Russell is Chair of the London Community Foundation, and until recently had been Chair of the Bell Foundation for 8 years. Russell has been a Trustee of a numerous charitable foundations; run the ‘philanthropy offices’ for a number of major philanthropists and held a number of Non-Executive Director positions. 

Russell received an OBE in the 2025 King’ Birthday Honours List for services to charity and to philanthropy.

Russell has written numerous articles and spoken at over 250 events on family enterprise and wealth succession, and philanthropy. 

He is the author of Family Governance and Surplus Wealth: Sustaining Family Fortunes published in June 2021; and has written chapters on Wealth Extraction and Philanthropy for the STEP Handbook: Business Families and Family Businesses.