Drawdown Duration

This site defines drawdown duration as the elapsed calendar days since the running maximum was last established. It supplies the time dimension that the drawdown percentage lacks, distinguishing a shallow decline lasting years from a deep one lasting weeks. Once a new high is set, the counter resets to zero.

How it is computed

calendar days between the date the running maximum was last set and the current date

Where it misleads

Other sources use the same term for two different quantities, the peak-to-trough length and the peak-to-recovery length, and the three definitions can differ by many months for the same asset. Because the clock is anchored to a single print, an erroneous spike can leave an asset counting days against a price at which no meaningful size ever traded. Newly launched assets show short durations for the trivial reason that their history is short, so the column partly ranks age. The measure also treats a two percent shortfall and a ninety percent shortfall as the same state, since it records only elapsed time.

The equity comparison, and why it fails

Time under water in fund performance reporting; fund figures use audited month-end valuations and a stated inception date, while this uses continuous provider prices with no audited close.

Reading a high or a low value

A larger number means more time has passed since the last record high in the series. Read it together with the current drawdown percentage, since depth and duration are independent.