VTI max drawdown: 50.8%
Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF. From its 2007-10-31 peak, VTI fell 50.8% to the 2009-02-28 trough and needed 4.4 years to make a new high (2012-03-31). Computed from 679 months of history starting 1970-01-31, including extended pre-ETF data where available.
The whole US market in one fund, including small and mid caps.
VTI drawdown statistics
2007-10-31 peak to 2009-02-28 trough.
New high reached 2012-03-31.
Share of all months spent below a prior high.
Rolling year ending 2009-02-28.
For context, SPY (the S&P 500 baseline) had a maximum drawdown of 50.8% over the same kind of monthly-close analysis.
The biggest VTI drawdowns on record
| Depth | Peak | Trough | Recovered | Peak to trough | Total underwater |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -50.8% | 2007-10-31 | 2009-02-28 | 2012-03-31 | 16 mo | 4.4 years |
| -44.5% | 2000-08-31 | 2002-09-30 | 2006-04-30 | 25 mo | 5.7 years |
| -42.7% | 1972-12-31 | 1974-09-30 | 1976-06-30 | 21 mo | 3.5 years |
| -29.8% | 1987-08-31 | 1987-11-30 | 1989-05-31 | 3 mo | 21 months |
| -24.8% | 2021-12-31 | 2022-09-30 | 2023-12-31 | 9 mo | 2.0 years |
Methodology: monthly closing prices, peak-to-trough on total return where available. History extends before the ETF's launch via documented proxy chains (index funds, indices, and academic series), the same data that powers BestFolio's strategy backtests. Educational information, not investment advice.
Drawdowns are the reason tactical strategies exist
Buy-and-hold VTI means living through every number on this page. BestFolio tracks published TAA strategies whose whole job is cutting these drawdowns, with out-of-sample track records.