VUG max drawdown: 53.6%
Vanguard Growth ETF. From its 2000-03-31 peak, VUG fell 53.6% to the 2002-09-30 trough and needed 12.0 years to make a new high (2012-03-31). Computed from 406 months of history starting 1992-10-31, including extended pre-ETF data where available.
US large-cap growth, the style that led 2010-2021 and fell hardest in 2022.
VUG drawdown statistics
2000-03-31 peak to 2002-09-30 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 VUG drawdowns on record
| Depth | Peak | Trough | Recovered | Peak to trough | Total underwater |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -53.6% | 2000-03-31 | 2002-09-30 | 2012-03-31 | 30 mo | 12.0 years |
| -33.1% | 2021-12-31 | 2022-12-31 | 2024-01-31 | 12 mo | 2.1 years |
| -16.4% | 2020-01-31 | 2020-03-31 | 2020-05-31 | 2 mo | 4 months |
| -16.2% | 2018-09-30 | 2018-12-31 | 2019-04-30 | 3 mo | 7 months |
| -13.0% | 1998-06-30 | 1998-08-31 | 1998-10-31 | 2 mo | 4 months |
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 VUG 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.