Mobilizing Our Efforts Across the nation and around the world, governments and their citizens continue to contend with the COVID-19 pandemic. As we noted in our most recent Quick Comment, the virus continues its spread in Western Europe, with Italy in particular being tragically stricken. In...

Navigating the Coronavirus Crisis Our most recent Quick Comment from last week struck an optimistic tone. We wrote that with sincerity; this moment, too, shall pass, but we are clear-eyed about challenges and uncertainties, both known and unknown, that lie before us presently. First, an update...

Remote Work Notification We are writing to inform you of the steps we are taking at Ascent to maintain smooth operations while safeguarding our clients and our communities during the COVID-19 pandemic. As our New York State-based clients may be aware, yesterday the Governor’s office issued...

We wanted to share a note of optimism during what has been a significant national moment, and a significant stock market decline. Anyone who has invested for more than a few years has experienced drawdowns in their stock portfolio; it is a natural part of investing. What has been disconcerting...

The week just past was a volatile one, with wide daily swings in the stock market, but the S&P 500 actually managed a small gain on the week. Not so today, which has seen a broad and sharp selloff in stock markets worldwide, and a continued, historic, drop in interest rates here in the US....

Stock markets took a pummeling last week from investor fears regarding the coronavirus. Following all-time highs set only a few short weeks prior, market averages finished deeply in the red last week, capping a seven-day stretch of declines. The S&P 500 finished last week with a year...