Leaky Bucket AUM Risk Score™

Most RIAs don't have a new-client problem.

They have a quiet loss of assets already inside the firm, and the hole gets wider as clients age and wealth passes to heirs.

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The opportunity

Keep the relationships behind the assets.

You know your clients.

They know your team. They trust your advice.

But do you know their family?

The people who come next may never have spoken to anyone at your firm.

A family connection isn’t yet a relationship.

Know who is Unknown, Disengaged or Engaged. Give each person meaningful help before they have to make decisions.

Morgan family canvas: Eleanor and James, their children Maya and Daniel and granddaughter Nora, alongside the advisor and client teams. Maya and Daniel have never met Ava; trusted contact, healthcare proxy and elder law attorney roles remain unfilled.
View the family canvas at full size (opens a new tab)

The leak

Four pressures on growth.

  1. New assets are only part of growth.

    Winning assets matters. So does understanding what leaves the firm, and what slows the growth of assets already there.

  2. Different pressures. Different effects.

    Withdrawals fund clients’ needs and reduce managed assets. Conservative investing can slow compounding without money leaving the firm.

    • Planned distributions
    • Required minimum distributions
    • More conservative investing
    • Assets passing at death

  3. A transfer can become a lost relationship.

    An inheritance moves assets to an heir. It becomes a leak for the firm when the heir chooses another advisor.

  4. Longevity planning is the bridge.

    Before a future transfer, help the family plan for health, care and cognitive change. That gives heirs a reason to know and choose your firm.

    • Help heirs choose to stay.
    • Earn the chance to manage more.
The leaky bucket: new assets come in, assets move out, and family planning gives heirs a reason to stay.Water represents assets managed by the firm. Withdrawals reduce those assets; more conservative investing can slow growth without an outflow. An inheritance leaves the firm if an heir chooses another advisor. The bridge illustrates a possible future transfer to an heir who stays, followed by a possible contribution of held-away assets. Planning does not guarantee either outcome. Sizes and flows are illustrative.Current clientsNext generation
Water represents assets managed by your firm. Flows are illustrative; retention and additional assets are not guaranteed.

The risk

Age-related revenue risk.

Revenue is exposed when an older client's next decision-maker has no relationship with the firm.

Look at revenue from clients over age 70, successor relationships and advisor retirement together. The Leaky Bucket AUM Risk Score™ connects these risks to journeys advisors can run.

  1. Bringing in 6% while losing 5% is a treadmill.

    From a $2.0B start, the firm reaches $3.93B in ten years, and most of that is the market.

  2. Lose more each year, and growth slips away.

    Withdrawals and inheritances quietly shrink the assets you already manage.

  3. Keep more, and the same new business compounds.

    At 6% inflows, reducing outflows from 7.5% to 3% adds $1.63B over ten years.

  4. Two levers. A $2.3B difference.

    The best and worst paths vary both inflows and outflows. Their gap is about $23M a year in fees at 1%.

Four ten-year paths from the same $2.0B start, and the $2.3B gap between best and worstEach path grows 6% a year with the market. Keeping more (6% in, 3% out) reaches $4.73B. Treadmill (6% in, 5% out) reaches $3.93B. Losing more (6% in, 7.5% out) reaches $3.11B. Losing more, winning less (3.5% in, 7.5% out) reaches $2.44B. The gap between best and worst is $2.3B, about $23M a year in fees at 1%.$2B$3B$4BToday5 years10 years$3.93BTreadmill$3.11BLosing more$2.44BLosing more, winning less$4.73BKeeping more$2.3BFour ten-year paths from the same $2.0B start, and the $2.3B gap between best and worstEach path grows 6% a year with the market. Keeping more (6% in, 3% out) reaches $4.73B. Treadmill (6% in, 5% out) reaches $3.93B. Losing more (6% in, 7.5% out) reaches $3.11B. Losing more, winning less (3.5% in, 7.5% out) reaches $2.44B. The gap between best and worst is $2.3B, about $23M a year in fees at 1%.$2B$3B$4BToday5 years10 years$3.93B$3.11B$2.44B$4.73B$2.3BTreadmillLosing moreLosing more, winning lessKeeping more
Each path starts at $2.0B and grows 6% a year with the market, plus new assets, minus what leaves. Keeping more: 6% in, 3% out. Treadmill: 6% in, 5% out. Losing more: 6% in, 7.5% out. Losing more, winning less: 3.5% in, 7.5% out.
Scenario values
ScenarioNet flows / yearAUM at year 10
6.0% in, 3.0% out+3.0%$4.73B
6.0% in, 5.0% out+1.0%$3.93B
6.0% in, 7.5% out-1.5%$3.11B
3.5% in, 7.5% out-4.0%$2.44B

Why firms miss it

Why firms miss money in motion opportunities

Portfolio alerts are visible. Family transitions often aren’t. Bring both into the conversation.

What firms watch today

  • Annual review due
  • Allocation drift
  • Market drawdown
  • RMD deadline
  • Large deposit

What should also prompt a call

  • Client turns 75
  • POA or healthcare proxy executed
  • Spouse enters a care community
  • Client widowed
  • Beneficiary designation updated

How Healthspan Wealth Helps

  • Family meeting offer; heir mapping
  • Introduce the named agent to the firm
  • Longevity and care-cost planning session
  • Structured re-engagement; heir introduction
  • Confirm and document heir contact
A mother and adult daughter together at home.

The bridge

Give your clients meaningful help when it matters most and give their families a reason to stay.

Keeping them is the result, not the goal.

Make the planning useful.

It isn't a pretext. The heir joins as a participant, often the named agent the hospital calls at 3 a.m.

  • Healthcare cost trajectory and long-term care
  • Housing transitions
  • Cognitive decline
  • Support with successor decision-makers
  • Powers of attorney, proxies, trustee succession

The framework

A framework for action.

A process, not a project.

The Leaky Bucket AUM Risk Score™ turns a view of your book into priorities, conversations and follow-through.

See the process in a demo
  1. 01

    Audit

  2. 02

    Identify

  3. 03

    Engage

  4. 04

    Monitor

Monitor returns to Identify. Keep the relationships current.

Book a demo

See how we make the leak visible.

Your firm’s risks, relationships and next steps.

The conversation you haven’t had yet

Somewhere in your client base, a parent trusts your firm completely and an adult child has never spoken to anyone there.

Run the audit. Look at the numbers. Work with us to plug your leaks.

For private equity owners, firm leaders and advisors.

Tell us about your firm. We’ll follow up to arrange your demo.

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White paper

The Leaky Bucket.

Why RIAs are losing the next generation of wealth and how to stop it.

The Leaky Bucket

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