VWEHX’s worst drop since 1999 was 30%
Vanguard High-Yield Corporate Fund (VWEHX) fell 30% from May 2007 to Nov 2008. It took 2.3 years from that peak to close at a new high, in Sep 2009. Over the same years the S&P 500 fell as much as 55%.
That drop is milder than most. It ranks 96th of the 109 mutual funds PortfolioAutopsy tracks, counted from the deepest.
Drawdown from the last high, 1999 to now
How VWEHX held up in each crash
| Crash | Years | VWEHX | S&P 500 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dot-com bust | 2000–02 | −9.0% | −47.5% |
| Financial crisis | 2007–09 | −30.1% | −55.2% |
| COVID crash | 2020 | −19.7% | −33.7% |
| 2022 rate shock | 2022 | −13.9% | −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 VWEHX’s maximum drawdown?
VWEHX’s deepest fall since 1999 was 30.2%, from its high on May 31, 2007 to its low on November 24, 2008. The figure uses daily prices with dividends reinvested.
How long did VWEHX take to recover?
2.3 years. VWEHX first closed above its May 2007 high again on September 15, 2009.
Was VWEHX riskier than the S&P 500?
Over the same years, VWEHX’s worst drop was 30.2% against 55.2% for the S&P 500 (SPY), and its worst 12 months were −28.3% against −47.4%.
Compare with
Daily adjusted closes from Yahoo Finance, January 5, 1999 through October 13, 2026, dividends reinvested. Historical facts, not a forecast and not investment advice.