each year as a paid Company holiday, which will provide our employees the opportunity to pause to celebrate this day dedicated to freedom and liberty and reflect on its meaning for our country; the creation of two new roles within the Company dedicated entirely to diversity and inclusion, including a Head of Diversity and Inclusion, responsible for developing and delivering on the next evolution of our comprehensive diversity & inclusion strategy that is aligned with our purpose, vision, mission, values and business goals across the organization, and a second role that will focus on diversity outreach and sourcing; and providing support to organizations to help address racial justice and diversity and to better support our local, underserved communities.
Within our brand awareness enabler, we have launched a full brand review that will include all three of our brands across the enterprise. This is a multi-year effort, and we launched the first phase of this initiative in the second quarter and are partnering with a premiere, well respected global brand agency on this phase of the project.
Within our capital allocation enabler, our balance sheet enables us to maintain regular capital return to shareholders by way of dividends and share buybacks, while also positioning us to pursue and finance strategic M&A if opportunities arise. In support of these efforts, we announced during the quarter that we filled a newly created position of Vice President, Acquisitions Strategy & Integration. We expect that inorganic growth will be a key component of our strategy, and this position will play a key role as we continually evaluate acquisition opportunities.
Impact of COVID-19
The market volatility that began in March 2020, as a result of the reaction to COVID-19 and its impact on the global economy, resulted in significant depreciation in the stock markets. In the second quarter of 2020, the markets rebounded, benefiting our measures of AUM and AUA for the three months ended June 30, 2020, but not entirely recovering to beginning of year levels. AUM as of June 30, 2020 was 5% more than the average AUM for the quarter. AUA increased 14% during the quarter from $51.8 billion at March 31, 2020 to $59.0 billion at June 30, 2020, but like AUM, average AUA decreased from the first quarter to the second quarter of 2020. Since average assets or beginning of the month assets is the measure by which revenues are calculated, we continued to see the revenue impact of the first quarter market depreciation in the second quarter of 2020.
Some of our expenses, particularly certain distribution expenses, are directly correlated with revenue, and we saw decreases in these expenses in line with the revenue decreases during the second quarter. In regard to controllable expenses, defined as Compensation and benefits, General and administrative, Technology, Occupancy and Marketing and advertising, while the Company did take several incremental actions to reduce these expenses through the first six months of 2020, we continue to take a long-term view and invest in the areas we think will allow us to come out of the pandemic in a stronger position and drive our long-term growth strategy. We will continue to closely monitor expenses for opportunities to drive additional efficiencies; however, we do expect an increase in controllable expense for the remainder of 2020, primarily related to continued strategic project investments but subject to the broader market environment.
We transitioned most of our workforce and Advisors to a work from home environment early in March 2020. By late March, 98% of our employees were working remotely, with negligible downtime. The remote work environment continued through the second quarter of 2020. Our steady and proactive response has allowed our asset management and wealth management businesses to maintain full continuity of service and the access that our clients need and expect. With a successful transition to a remote working environment, we plan to closely monitor developments and reintroduce employees to the workplace only when it is safe to do so. The transition of employees to a work from home environment did not result in any material incremental expenses during the first or second quarter of 2020, and we do not expect to incur any material incremental expenses in future periods. For additional discussion regarding steps we have taken to facilitate safety, security and full continuity of service, please see Part I – Item 1 – “Financial Statements (unaudited), Note 1 – Description of Business and Accounting Policies”, of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q.
We continue to maintain a strong balance sheet without any significant leverage and ended the quarter with $775.8 million in cash and investments. Our exceptionally strong balance sheet allows us to continue to execute our long-term growth strategies while retaining our focus on controlling expenses.
For additional discussion regarding the risks that can impact our business, results of operations and financial condition due to COVID-19 and the related economic conditions, please see Part II – Item 1A – “Risk Factors”.