Vanguard Utilities ETF drawdown: 11.4% below the all-time high (price)
Vanguard Utilities ETF is 11.4% below its all-time high, set Feb 27, 2026 (as of market close, Oct 16, 2026), measured on price alone — dividends are not included, the convention headlines and crash histories use. 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
- −11.4%
- 88.6% of ATH
- All-time high
- $205.87
- Feb 27, 2026
- Time below the high
- 8 mo
- since Feb 27, 2026
- Worst-ever drawdown
- −48.4%
- Mar 9, 2009
- Longest underwater
- 6.3 yrs
- between all-time highs
- Today's level first reached
- Jul 22, 2025
- 15 mo ago
- Last time this deep
- Apr 8, 2025
- in a previous episode
% of all-time high since 2004: price#
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.
The deepest drawdowns on record#
Every decline of 15% or more from an all-time high (price basis), deepest first.
| Peak | Trough | Depth | Peak → trough | Recovered by | Underwater |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 10, 2007 | Mar 9, 2009 | −48.4% | 15 mo | Apr 8, 2014 | 6.3 yrs |
| Feb 18, 2020 | Mar 23, 2020 | −36.8% | 34 days | Dec 31, 2021 | 1.9 yrs |
| Sep 12, 2022 | Oct 2, 2023 | −28.2% | 13 mo | Sep 13, 2024 | 2.0 yrs |
| Jan 29, 2015 | Sep 4, 2015 | −17.6% | 7 mo | Mar 29, 2016 | 14 mo |
| Feb 27, 2026 | Sep 28, 2026 | −17.3% | 7 mo | not yet | 8 mo+ |
| Nov 14, 2017 | Feb 8, 2018 | −15.8% | 3 mo | Dec 3, 2018 | 13 mo |
| Apr 8, 2022 | Jun 17, 2022 | −15.3% | 2 mo | Aug 15, 2022 | 4 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 2004: how far Vanguard Utilities ETF stood below its all-time high, and the total return over the following 1, 5 and 10 years.
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 Vanguard Utilities ETF from its all-time high?
- Vanguard Utilities ETF is currently 11.4% below its all-time high, set Feb 27, 2026 (as of market close, Oct 16, 2026). Prices only, the convention headlines use; with dividends reinvested the gap is usually smaller.
- What was the biggest Vanguard Utilities ETF drawdown ever?
- The deepest decline on record in our data (since 2004) took Vanguard Utilities ETF 48.4% 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 -1 from VPU; no free deep history exists for Vanguard Utilities ETF — 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.