If Your Back Line Leaks, Your Business Shrinks: What Liverpool Football Club Can Teach Advisors About Growth

I am writing this after watching another Liverpool FC match in which they gave up the lead twice. This seems to be the theme of the season: brilliant going forward, a tad shaky at the back, which reminded me of something we see in advisory firms all the time.

You can have incredible new business activity, great marketing, strong referrals, and still be losing ground if your defense is leaking. For advisors, the leaks come from client attrition and the automatic withdrawals that quietly drain your book every year.

The Core Metrics Behind Sustainable Growth

Required Minimum Distributions, systematic withdrawals, and an aging client base create consistent outflows in every advisory firm. Understanding the size and impact of these outflows is a critical part of managing true net growth.

Real growth only happens when you bring in more than you lose. If outflows exceed inflows, the business is shrinking regardless of how the top-line looks.

Track Your Goals For and Goals Against

Attrition and withdrawals define the baseline outflows your firm must overcome. If you do not measure them, your growth metrics will always mislead you. And while the market can lift AUM, it cannot replace intentional net new growth.

Review every year:

• How much AUM left through withdrawals?
• How much left through client departures?
• What percentage of your households are in distribution versus accumulation?
• Is your age mix setting you up for growth or for future shrinkage?

The power in tracking these metrics is the ability to act early. When you understand where outflows are coming from, you can design targeted strategies to address them instead of reacting after the damage is done.

For example, too many retirees drawing down means you need fresh accumulation clients. Too many households over seventy means you need deeper relationships with children and heirs.

Strong Firms Protect the Back Door

Great soccer teams stay great by avoiding preventable goals. Advisory firms stay great by tightening the back line and understanding their true net growth.

Want to Dive Deeper into the Beautiful Game?

Before the 2026 World Cup, pick up Inverting the Pyramid by Jonathan Wilson or watch Sunderland Til I Die. Both will give you a new appreciation for strategy, patience, and why defensive discipline wins titles. Or in Sunderland’s case, why a lack of it earns you a trip to the lower leagues.

This Month’s Music Recommendation

Since we are talking about measurement, here is this month’s music nod. “Counting Stars” by OneRepublic is a good reminder that counting the right things shapes how you move forward.

And speaking of moving forward, here is hoping Arne Slot uses the January window to tighten Liverpool’s defense.

If you enjoy these insights or want to keep the conversation going, connect with me on LinkedIn. I share practical strategies, industry trends, and a few football opinions along the way. I would love to stay in touch and hear how you are driving growth in your practice.

FOR ADVISOR USE ONLY. NOT INTENDED FOR CONSUMER SOLICITATION PURPOSES.

Beacon Capital Management, Inc. is an investment adviser registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Additional information about Beacon Capital Management is also available on the SEC’s website at www.adviserinfo.sec.gov under CRD number 120641. Beacon Capital Management only transacts business in states where it is properly registered or excluded or exempted from registration requirements.

Information presented is for educational purposes only and does not intend to make an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of any specific securities, investments or investment strategies.

Sammons Financial^® is the marketing name for Sammons^® Financial Group, Inc.’s member companies, including Beacon Capital Management^SM. 

 

NJS – 12062025