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MSCI ACWI drawdown: at its all-time high

MSCI ACWI is trading at its all-time high (as of market close, Sep 4, 2026). The chart shows every day as a percentage of the highest level reached up to that point: 100% means a fresh record, everything below is a drawdown.

Below all-time high
at the high
99.6% of ATH
All-time high
$162.48
Aug 13, 2026
Time below the high
0 days
since Aug 13, 2026
Worst-ever drawdown
−56.3%
Mar 9, 2009
Longest underwater
5.3 yrs
between all-time highs
Today's level first reached
Aug 13, 2026
22 days ago

% of all-time high since 2008#

The classic underwater chart (drawdown curve), drawn as % of the all-time high — 100% is a fresh record, everything below it is time spent underwater. Basis and range are in the URL, so a particular view is a link.

Basis
Range
All-time high = 100%50%60%70%80%90%
ACWI close · log50.00100
2010201520202025

The deepest drawdowns on record#

Every decline of 15% or more from an all-time high (price basis), deepest first.

PeakTroughDepthPeak → troughRecovered byUnderwater
May 16, 2008Mar 9, 2009−56.3%10 moSep 18, 20135.3 yrs
Feb 12, 2020Mar 23, 2020−33.5%40 daysAug 25, 20206 mo
Nov 16, 2021Oct 12, 2022−27.7%11 moMar 1, 20242.3 yrs
May 21, 2015Feb 11, 2016−21.4%9 moMar 1, 20171.8 yrs
Jan 26, 2018Dec 24, 2018−21.1%11 moNov 25, 20191.8 yrs
Feb 18, 2025Apr 8, 2025−16.5%49 daysMay 19, 20253 mo

Price basis (no dividends) — the convention crash histories use. With dividends reinvested, recoveries arrive years earlier; switch the basis on the chart above to see it.

Drawdown vs what came next#

One dot per month since 2008: how far MSCI ACWI stood below its all-time high, and the total return over the following 1, 5 and 10 years.

1950–19992000–today

Read this with survivorship bias in mind: a single asset's history is one surviving sample, so past recoveries here say little about the odds ahead. Monthly windows also overlap heavily (they are not independent samples). Not investment advice.

FAQ#

How far is MSCI ACWI from its all-time high?
MSCI ACWI is currently at (or within half a percent of) its all-time high, set Aug 13, 2026.
What was the biggest MSCI ACWI drawdown ever?
The deepest decline on record in our data (since 2008) took MSCI ACWI 56.3% below its prior high, bottoming Mar 9, 2009. The table on this page lists every major episode with its peak, trough and recovery date.

Methodology & related#

Daily data since 2008 from ACWI, MSCI ACWI's tracking fund; no free deep history exists for MSCI ACWI — for a 150-year drawdown record see the S&P 500 drawdown page. The price basis excludes dividends; the total-return basis reinvests them; the real basis additionally deflates by CPI. See also returns by year. Past performance does not predict future returns; not investment advice.

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