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The percent below the highest peak you have ever hit. The pain you actually feel.
Drawdown is the peak-to-trough percentage decline of a portfolio between any two points. A portfolio that hit $100k, fell to $80k, and recovered to $90k experienced a 20% drawdown. Drawdowns are the most psychologically painful aspect of investing — they are the main reason investors abandon strategies and lock in losses.
DD_t = V_t / max(V_s for s ≤ t) − 1DDt = (Vt / max(Vs for s ≤ t)) − 1Drawdown at any point is always less than or equal to zero. It is zero when you are at a new peak and decreases as you fall below it. Recovery returns it to zero.
Drawdown captures path risk that variance-based metrics can miss. A portfolio with two 30% drawdowns can have lower realized volatility than one with continuous 1% daily noise — but is psychologically much harder to hold.
Behaviorally, drawdowns are where strategies die. Investors typically capitulate (sell) somewhere around −20% to −30%, locking in the loss. The discipline of not selling in drawdowns is more valuable than any return-generating strategy.
Portfolio value over 6 months: $100, $110, $105, $95, $88, $94.
Running peaks: $100, $110, $110, $110, $110, $110.
Drawdowns: 0%, 0%, −4.5%, −13.6%, −20.0%, −14.5%.
The deepest drawdown was −20.0% in month 5. By month 6 you had partially recovered to a −14.5% drawdown.
See Maximum Drawdown for asset-class-specific drawdown expectations. For any given moment, anything worse than −5% to −10% on a diversified equity portfolio starts to feel painful; below −20% triggers the capitulation reflex in most retail investors.
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Open the Max Drawdown Analyzer →Maximum Drawdown · Ulcer Index · CDaR (Conditional Drawdown at Risk) · Recovery Factor
A correction is typically a 10% decline from a peak; a bear market is 20%+. Drawdown is the formal continuous measure — it always equals "how far below your peak are you."
Foliolytic computes drawdowns at daily resolution using actual end-of-day prices. Monthly drawdowns systematically understate the actual peak-to-trough experience.
When the portfolio reaches a new all-time high. Until then, you are still in the same drawdown — even if you have partially recovered.
See the max drawdown page — S&P 500 GFC drawdown lasted 5.5 years, dot-com lasted 7 years, COVID lasted 5 months.
Upload your brokerage CSV — Foliolytic computes Drawdown plus 70+ other metrics using real historical prices, real Treasury yields, and real CPI data. Free, no signup, your data stays in your browser.
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