Hello, I'm David Koenig, Chief Investment Strategist for Schwab Intelligent Portfolios. It would be an understatement to say that the past few months have been an extraordinary time for all of us. The global pandemic has disrupted nearly every aspect of our lives. We've seen historic market volatility and economic uncertainty, as well as reminders of the racial issues that continue to tear at our nation. The demands of this year have been stressful for us all.
However, the financial markets and the economy are in a better place than when I spoke with you last quarter. Despite all of the challenges, we've continued to see record client engagement, and we're working on a timeline to gradually begin reopening our branch offices. That will all take some time though, so I'm joining you again from my home. But as always, our focus remains on serving you, so we're here to help however we can.
How markets performed in Q2 
While amusement parks have been closed for several months, financial markets have been on quite a roller-coaster ride. After having tumbled into the fastest-ever bear market in Q1, stocks rebounded in Q2 with a tremendous surge that brought the major stock indexes nearly back to break-even for the year. Bonds also came under some pressure during Q1, primarily due to some market liquidity issues which the Fed quickly helped to ease. However, treasuries delivered a positive return during the first quarter and other fixed income asset classes fell far less than stocks. Bonds have also performed well in Q2, and they're among the top performing asset classes year-to-date along with gold and cash. 
Economic indicators have been on the same roller-coaster ride. Unemployment claims spiked as businesses shut down and economic growth expectations plunged, both to unprecedented levels. However, the policy response has been equally unprecedented, both in the US and around the globe. A long list of lending facilities and other actions from the Federal Reserve along with trillions of dollars in economic aid packages from Congress have helped to support businesses and households, as well as the markets. The corporate earnings outlook does remain cloudy. However, the markets have rebounded on all of that stimulus. And most economists do still expect economic growth to turn positive again in the second half of the year.  
How Schwab Intelligent Portfolios performed in Q2
As with the markets, Schwab Intelligent Portfolios saw strong gains across the risk spectrum in Q2. And while the past two quarters have been extremely challenging, they serve as a helpful reminder that staying focused on your longer-term plan and not overreacting to short-term volatility is one of the keys to long-term investment success. 
For clients in conservative portfolios, bonds have played their role in helping to moderate the ups and downs. While portfolios might have declined in Q1, they held up far better than major stock indexes such as the S&P 500, and by the end of Q2, portfolios had recovered and were relatively flat for the year. And clients who remained invested continued to receive interest and dividends despite the market gyrations.
Moderate portfolios saw larger ups and downs than conservative portfolios, as would be expected. However, a diversified mix of stocks and bonds helped to moderate declines during the Q1 sell-off, while also benefiting from the strong stock rally during Q2 that erased most of the losses for these portfolios year-to-date.
Growth portfolios saw the strongest gains in Q2, as would be expected due to their emphasis on stocks, though they also saw the largest declines in Q1. Still, the Q2 rally erased a good portion of those losses year-to-date, and it's important to remember that more aggressive portfolios have higher long-term expected returns, but that comes also with an expectation of more ups and downs along the way. 
Annual allocation & ETF update 
Toward the end of Q2, we also completed our annual asset allocation and ETF review. As part of our ongoing portfolio management, we review and potentially update portfolio allocations and ETFs each year. This might have resulted in a shift in your goal status or trades in your account in June to make sure that your portfolio continues to reflect our latest expectations for the risk and return of each asset class. 
Keep in mind that these trades are simply to reflect the updated long-term outlook and are not for short-term market timing purposes. You can learn more by visiting schwab.com/updates.

Thank you for listening. We remain cautiously optimistic about the pace of the market and economic recovery, though volatility is likely to remain elevated until we gain greater clarity on the pandemic. As always, we're here for you; we continue to work hard for you through these challenging times. Please reach out to chat with us online or call us if you need to. In closing, we wish you and your family a healthy and wonderful summer.