10% Drawdown & $5,400 in LOSSES in 2 Days
In only two days (April 8th & 9th), Brandon Enriquez/Ascend lost $3,508 in my $10,000 account and $1,894 in my $15,000 ROTH account. Then, Brandon E. intentionally misled me on April 9th and then again on July 3rd on both occasions telling me I only suffered a 1.5% loss. On April 9th he told me not to worry because he would easily make up the losses. I was initially misled by Brandon E. who told me Ascend had client who had successfully trading in USA brokerage accounts earning 2% - 3% per month. I put my money in two separate US brokerage firms and basically had very minor loses with very few trades due to SEC limitations on open trades. Brandon E. then convinced me he had a lot of clients who had earned consistent 4% - 6% returns in OX Securities accounts so I opened an individual account. funds. For two months I did earn between 4% - 6% a month on $10,000. The maximum drawdown was only 2%, which Brandon E represented was consistent with Ascend’s “conservative” trading philosophy that exposed investors to low draw downs. Conservative trading and only a 2% drawdown were VERY IMPORTANT to me. Brandon also said his/Ascend’s conservative approach included NOT trading when there were market events that could cause volatility in trading. (I thought this was wise.) After being satisfied with the profits earned on conservative trading on my $10,000 account, and after being told a third party bought the company (because of Ascend’s algorithm and excellent client results), I entrusted an additional $15,000 with Brandon E/Ascend by opening an OX ROTH IRA trading account. Again, the highest drawdown had been a safe 2%. After depositing my $15,000 on March 25th, Brandon E. said the market was volatile and that he was going to WAIT until it calmed down to invest. On APRIL 9, 2025, I received a call from Brandon informing me that (he had started trading my ROTH funds on April 8th) he had a bad day trading (really TWO!), and that I had suffered loses that were about 1.5%. [HOWEVER, I ONLY DISCOVERED RECENTLY, HE INTENTIONALLY FAILED TO DISCLOSE LARGE (“UNREALIZED”) LOSSES.] He told me not to worry because he would easily be able to make up these losses. I trusted what he told me based on the prior 2 months. In retrospect, Brandon E took credit for the prior gains so he was actually reporting “cumulative” loses, which included prior gains he “offset.” After delaying trading because of volatility risk, I suffered “$1,138 in realized ROTH loses in two days. However, the AMOUNT of “UNREALIZED” LOSSES (OPEN TRADES) that Brandon HID from me totaled an ASTOUNDING $2,893 on my $10,000 account and an additional $756 LOSS on my ROTH funds!! This amounted to a 31.6% 2-day loss on my $10,000. There was a drawdown of close to 10%, or nearly 5x the 2% prior maximum drawdown I trusted Brandon to achieve. On JULY 1st I checked myfxBooks account and saw that my account was still reflecting the same losses (almost 3 months later), I decided to withdraw my funds from my OX to reinvest elsewhere. I was SHOCKED to learn I could only withdraw the “equity” amounts that included SIGNIFICANT Ascend Unrealized Losses. When I spoke to Brandon E. on JULY 3rd to discuss my OX account, he (again) calmly CLAIMED that I had ONLY LOST about 1.5% on my account!! When I confronted him on the fact that I could only withdraw $13,106 and $7,796, he acknowledged that was true but made it sound like it was NO BIG DEAL. He calmly said the market had gone against us and he was just waiting for it to come back. When I asked was this somewhat similar to shorting a stock he said kind of but not exactly. When I asked him how long was it since his last trade and he said about ONE MONTH AGO. This was CLEARLY INTENTIONALLY MISLEADING since in fact it was NEARLY 3 MONTHS AGO (April 9th)!! Well, after almost 3 months, I researched and discovered there are still a whopping 37 open trades, again totaling $3,649 in losses. I believe I was INTENTIONALLY MISLED by Brandon Enriquez on both April 9th and July 3rd. FYI, I was not told Brandon Rangel, Brandon E’s long time friend, left the company until our July 3, 2025 call. I was never told the business buyer BACKED-OUT and never purchased the company, until our July 3, 2025 call. I took this purchase to be an “endorsement.” I now think the buyer backed out the more he learned about Ascend/Brandon E’s actual trading results – LIKE MY BIG LOSSES. BASED ON THE ABOVE, I BELIEVE I HAVE BEEN INTENTIONALLY MISLED ON MULTIPLE OCCASSIONS AND I WOULD CAUTION ANYONE TO NOT ENTRUST YOUR MONIES TO ASCEND/BRANDON ENRIQUEZ.