Professional Advisors Network - Shaping tomorrow’s legacies
Published on 21 May, 2026
Above: Momentum Bequest Patron Ken Williamson speaks at 'An Evening of Connection and Conversation'. Photo: Key Imagery.
From the Momentum Waikato Annual Report 2025 - see full report in PDF.
Attracting Gifts-in-Wills, as a principal way to create and build endowment funds, is a key element of Momentum Waikato’s mission to create a better Waikato forever.
Large donations are made by the living of course, but the reality for most people is that the finalisation of their estate after they’re gone will be their only opportunity to make a significant contribution towards the charities and or causes they care about.
The message we therefore need to get out to people planning and writing their Wills is that the ‘smart giving’ endowment model offered by community foundations like Momentum is the best and surest way to turn a charitable gift in a Will into a perpetual local legacy.
Professional advisors – lawyers, accountants and wealth advisors – are well placed to start the conversations with their clients about whether they have considered leaving a charitable gift in their Will, and to then ask whether they are aware they can create or add to an endowment.
They also sometimes advise trustees on their options when they are reviewing compliance challenges and/or considering a wind-up, so can suggest an asset transfer to Momentum as an effective way to continue their trust’s charitable purpose.
Momentum Waikato has always had some contact with advisors, but we decided in 2024 that it was time we took such connections to the ‘next level’.
So last year we launched a ‘Professional Advisors Network’ programme to foster our relationships with legal and financial professionals who are keen to introduce their clients to the opportunity to create a meaningful legacy and grasp the need for a strategic approach to building generosity in the Waikato.
Debbie Stevens, pictured above, as our then-Relationship Manager worked through 2025 to set this ‘PAN Network’ in motion, for which we thank her sincerely.
The culmination of this opening phase driven by Debbie was 'An Evening of Connection and Conversation' in November at the Hamilton Gardens Pavilion, which included a sneak peek at the Medieval Garden under construction nearby.
This was a delightful gathering that put local lawyers, accountants and wealth advisors in the same room as the founders and organisers of some of our activated endowment funds. Lively chat and networking ensued, as such cross pollination between the professional and community sectors doesn’t happen that often.
Momentum Trustee Mark Ingle talks with Heather and Rod Claycomb of All Good Ventures at 'An Evening of Connection and Conversation'. Photo: Key Imagery.
A panel made up of local financial and legal luminaries Margaret Wilson, Ken Williamson, Joan Forret and Ken Stephens laid out how advisors can help their clients make the most of a charitable gift in their Will.
They went on to explain how a collective and regional approach to generosity, with enough people aboard, can sustain the Waikato and its communities for generations to come. And that now is the time to build such a capacity due to the large inter-generational wealth transfer that is looming as the ‘baby boomers’ reach the end of their lives.
Momentum Waikato is keen to engage with local Professional Advisors of all stripes and will be continuing to seek out and create partnerships in the legal and financial sectors.
If you’re a lawyer, accountant or wealth manager reading this and want to know more about igniting your clients’ legacies, visit momentumwaikato.nz/professional-advisors to find out more and get in touch.
