TLT’s worst drop since 2002 was 48%
iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT) fell 48% from Aug 2020 to Oct 2023. It has not closed above that Aug 2020 peak since, 6.2 years later. Over the same years the S&P 500 fell as much as 55%.
That drop is milder than most. It ranks 107th of the 203 ETFs PortfolioAutopsy tracks, counted from the deepest.
Drawdown from the last high, 2002 to now
How TLT held up in each crash
| Crash | Years | TLT | S&P 500 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dot-com bust | 2000–02 | not trading yet | −47.5% |
| Financial crisis | 2007–09 | −26.6% | −55.2% |
| COVID crash | 2020 | −15.7% | −33.7% |
| 2022 rate shock | 2022 | −35.0% | −24.5% |
Each number is the deepest fall from a high inside that window, using daily prices with dividends reinvested.
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What was TLT’s maximum drawdown?
TLT’s deepest fall since 2002 was 48.4%, from its high on August 4, 2020 to its low on October 19, 2023. The figure uses daily prices with dividends reinvested.
How long did TLT take to recover?
It has not recovered yet. As of October 13, 2026 it sits 44.4% below that Aug 2020 high.
Was TLT riskier than the S&P 500?
Over the same years, TLT’s worst drop was 48.4% against 55.2% for the S&P 500 (SPY), and its worst 12 months were −36.2% against −47.4%.
Compare with
Daily adjusted closes from Yahoo Finance, July 31, 2002 through October 13, 2026, dividends reinvested. Historical facts, not a forecast and not investment advice.