VYM max drawdown: 51.8%
Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF. From its 2007-05-31 peak, VYM fell 51.8% to the 2009-02-28 trough and needed 4.8 years to make a new high (2012-03-31). Computed from 237 months of history starting 2006-11-30, including extended pre-ETF data where available.
High-yield large caps.
VYM drawdown statistics
2007-05-31 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 VYM drawdowns on record
| Depth | Peak | Trough | Recovered | Peak to trough | Total underwater |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -51.8% | 2007-05-31 | 2009-02-28 | 2012-03-31 | 21 mo | 4.8 years |
| -24.0% | 2019-12-31 | 2020-03-31 | 2020-12-31 | 3 mo | 12 months |
| -14.1% | 2022-03-31 | 2022-09-30 | 2022-11-30 | 6 mo | 8 months |
| -9.6% | 2018-01-31 | 2018-12-31 | 2019-03-31 | 11 mo | 14 months |
| -9.0% | 2022-11-30 | 2023-05-31 | 2023-12-31 | 6 mo | 13 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 VYM 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.