Which ETFs hold up when the market falls?
Funds that hold up in a sell-off soften a portfolio’s worst stretches and leave money to buy with when prices are low. But protection that worked in one crash did not always work in the next, and most of it costs return when markets rise.
Updated Oct 9, 2026
5 held up every time
The S&P 500 has fallen 15% or more 4 times since 2018: 20% in 2018, 34% in 2020, 25% in 2022, 19% in 2025. In its worst one, the typical stock fund fell 125% as much as the index. 5 of 161 funds fell less than half as much every time: TAIL, SHY, GLD, DBMF, MUB. Bond funds held up in 3 of 4 but fell 16% in 2022.
In each sell-off
First, the typical fund of each type in its worst sell-off. Select a tile, or any fund in the table, to see its change in each fall.
The 23 funds that hold up or cushion
Every fund that fell less than 90% as much as the S&P 500 in each sell-off, of 161 measured, ranked by its worst one. Each sell-off runs from the index’s closing high to its low: Sep–Dec 2018, Feb–Mar 2020, Jan–Oct 2022 and Feb–Apr 2025. Select a column to sort.
| Fund | Type | In sell-offs | Worst share | 2018 | 2020 | 2022 | 2025 | 5Y return |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TAIL Cambria Tail Risk ETF | Hedge | 100Holds up | 19% | +23% | +28% | −5% | +27% | −46% |
| SHY iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF | Bonds | 99Holds up | 20% | 0% | +2% | −5% | +1% | −6% |
| GLD SPDR Gold Trust | Commodities | 99Holds up | 29% | +5% | −4% | −7% | +2% | +133% |
| DBMF iMGP DBi Managed Futures Strategy ETF | Hedge | 98Holds up | 41% | – | −7% | +32% | −8% | +16% |
| MUB iShares National Muni Bond ETF | Bonds | 98Holds up | 43% | +1% | −10% | −11% | −4% | −13% |
| GOVT iShares U.S. Treasury Bond ETF | Bonds | 97Cushions | 54% | +2% | +6% | −14% | +1% | −17% |
| DBA Invesco DB Agriculture Fund | Commodities | 96Cushions | 55% | −1% | −11% | +3% | −10% | +48% |
| BNDX Vanguard Total International Bond ETF | Bonds | 96Cushions | 56% | −1% | −4% | −14% | 0% | −17% |
| IVOL Quadratic Interest Rate Volatility and Inflation Hedge ETF | Hedge | 95Cushions | 62% | – | 0% | −16% | +10% | −38% |
| AGG iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF | Bonds | 94Cushions | 62% | 0% | −2% | −16% | 0% | −17% |
| BND Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF | Bonds | 94Cushions | 63% | 0% | −2% | −16% | 0% | −18% |
| IEF iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF | Bonds | 93Cushions | 65% | +2% | +6% | −16% | +2% | −22% |
| SRLN SPDR Blackstone Senior Loan ETF | Bonds | 92Cushions | 66% | −6% | −23% | −11% | −5% | −12% |
| HYG iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF | Bonds | 92Cushions | 70% | −8% | −22% | −18% | −5% | −11% |
| TIP iShares TIPS Bond ETF | Bonds | 91Cushions | 70% | −1% | −1% | −18% | 0% | −19% |
| XLP SPDR Consumer Staples Select Sector ETF | Sector | 91Cushions | 72% | −12% | −25% | −12% | −6% | +18% |
| JNK SPDR Bloomberg High Yield Bond ETF | Bonds | 90Cushions | 75% | −8% | −23% | −19% | −6% | −15% |
| FPEI First Trust Institutional Preferred Securities and Income ETF | Income | 89Cushions | 81% | −4% | −28% | −15% | −4% | −10% |
| XLV SPDR Health Care Select Sector ETF | Sector | 89Cushions | 83% | −15% | −28% | −13% | −9% | +33% |
| SLV iShares Silver Trust | Commodities | 88Cushions | 84% | +3% | −29% | −17% | −9% | +154% |
| EWH iShares MSCI Hong Kong ETF | International | 88Cushions | 87% | −7% | −24% | −22% | −10% | −10% |
| DIVO Amplify CWP Enhanced Dividend Income ETF | Income | 87Cushions | 88% | −16% | −30% | −15% | −13% | +30% |
| PDBC Invesco Optimum Yield Diversified Commodity Strategy ETF | Commodities | 86Cushions | 88% | −18% | −25% | +21% | −12% | −13% |
How to read this page
How it’s measured. Every fall of 15% or more in the S&P 500 since 2018, measured from its closing high to its closing low. Each fund’s change over the same days is taken as a share of the index’s fall, and funds are ranked by their worst sell-off among those they have lived through (at least 3).
Sources. Daily prices from Financial Modeling Prep.
A worst share of 50% means that even in its worst sell-off the fund fell half as much as the S&P 500 over the same days; 0% means it rose in every one. Funds launched after the 2020 crash are left out, and so are cash funds such as BIL, which barely move.
In 2022 stocks and bonds fell together as interest rates rose quickly, so bond funds that cushioned earlier sell-offs did not. Returns are price changes and leave out interest and dividends.
Holding up usually costs something in rising markets: most of the funds that fell least have trailed the S&P 500 over five years.
This page is information, not investment advice. About our data and methods ›