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A free scan shows the junk files, broken settings and background clutter dragging Windows down - then fixes them in one click.Free scan · Windows 10 & 11Often, but not reliably. Defensive stocks and strategies have sometimes lost less than broad stock-market benchmarks during downturns, but they are still equities: they can fall sharply, lag the market, or fail to protect investors in a particular selloff. “Defensive” describes a relative risk profile, not a guarantee.
What “safer” means—and what it does not
Safety can mean different things. Lower volatility or beta indicates that returns have historically fluctuated less or been less sensitive to the market. Maximum drawdown measures the fall from a previous peak to a later low. Neither measure promises a positive return or limits how much an investment can lose.
Defensive equity can refer to several distinct approaches: investing in traditionally defensive sectors such as consumer staples, health care, and utilities; selecting lower-volatility or lower-beta stocks; screening for quality; or emphasizing dividends. These are not interchangeable portfolios. Their results depend on which stocks an index includes, how it weights them, and the market environment.
As S&P Dow Jones Indices’ Rupert Watts put it in March 2020, “Defensive equity indices are, after all, still equities; we hope that they will mitigate losses in the underlying benchmarks, but they’ll still go down, perhaps substantially.” S&P Dow Jones Indices, “Putting Defensive Indices to the Test”
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What the historical evidence shows
Defensive sectors in four global drawdowns
A 2020 S&P Dow Jones Indices study examined four global-market drawdowns of at least 20% from December 31, 1994, through the study period in 2020. Across those episodes, the S&P Global BMI TR lost an average 40%. Consumer staples, health care, and utilities instead recorded average gains of 26%, 16%, and 15%, respectively. Those figures describe that specific historical sample; they do not establish that the sectors will rise or even lose less in every future downturn.
The same study found that the S&P Global BMI TR fell 14.3% in March 2020, its third-worst month in the prior 25 years. That month, global health care, consumer staples, and utilities outperformed the benchmark by 9.9%, 8.9%, and 2.4%, respectively. These are benchmark-relative returns, not a claim that every stock in those sectors gained. S&P Dow Jones Indices, “Have Defensive Sectors Stood the Test of Time in Global Markets?”
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Low volatility and quality can behave differently
In a separate U.S. index comparison of the 2002, 2009, and 2020 bear markets, both the S&P 500 Quality Index and the S&P 500 Low Volatility Index had lower volatility than the S&P 500. Both outperformed in 2002 and 2009. In 2020, however, Quality outperformed while Low Volatility underperformed. That exception matters: a strategy’s label does not determine its result in every downturn. S&P Dow Jones Indices, “Comparing Defensive Factors During the Last 3 Bear Markets”
Lower risk is not the same as higher returns
S&P Dow Jones Indices describes a typical trade-off: low-volatility strategies tend to rise less in rising markets and fall less in falling markets, although the balance depends on market conditions. Its analysis of the S&P 500 Minimum Volatility Index reported nearly the S&P 500’s return with 16% lower risk from January 1991 through May 2021. That result applies to that index and period, not to every low-volatility fund or future holding period. S&P Dow Jones Indices, “Profiling Minimum Volatility”
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- They remain exposed to stock-market losses. A lower-volatility portfolio can still decline substantially when equities sell off.
- Sector and stock weights matter. A defensive-sector portfolio may be concentrated in a few industries or companies. Even within one category, index rules and weighting can produce meaningfully different exposures.
- Some downturns favor one defensive approach over another. The 2020 U.S. comparison showed Low Volatility lagging even as Quality outperformed.
- They can lag in strong markets. A strategy that participates less in market advances may trail when broad equities rise strongly.
- Valuations and yields change. A stock’s perceived defensive qualities, valuation, and dividend yield do not ensure downside protection; those characteristics can shift over time.
Index composition can be consequential even during a short selloff. In its preliminary analysis through March 20, 2020, S&P Dow Jones Indices noted that real-estate and utility exposures hurt its Low Volatility Index during a difficult week in the early COVID-19 decline. S&P Dow Jones Indices, “Putting Defensive Indices to the Test”
Recent performance is a reminder that relative safety can reverse
Vanguard’s article, accessed October 4, 2026, reported that its cited S&P Low Volatility Index comparison gained 9.2% over the decade through October 31, 2025, versus 14.6% for the S&P 500. Vanguard attributed the relative shortfall to a period of exceptionally high market returns and discussed changing valuation relationships; those are Vanguard’s analysis, not a dependable forecast. The article also reported $239 billion in cumulative outflows from defensive-equity strategies since the end of 2022, using Morningstar data as of October 30, 2025. Past performance is no guarantee of future returns. Vanguard, “Do defensive equities win championships?”
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How to evaluate a defensive investment
Compare like with like: use the same geography, benchmark, return type, and time period. A global sector study and a U.S. factor-index study answer different questions, so their figures should not be combined as if they measured one portfolio or market.
- Check losses and recovery. Look at peak-to-trough drawdown and how long recovery took, not just average volatility.
- Compare both downside and upside behavior. Beta and standard deviation can help describe historical market sensitivity and return variability, but also check how the strategy participated in rising markets.
- Inspect what you would own. Review sector and single-stock concentrations, plus the index’s selection and weighting rules.
- Examine more than one market episode. Include different kinds of downturns and the recoveries that followed; a single crash is not a reliable test of a strategy’s behavior.
- Use valuation and yield carefully. Treat them as dated characteristics, not promises of protection or income.
Before choosing a fund or strategy, check whether its stated objective is lower volatility, sector exposure, quality, or something else. Then compare its holdings, fees, and risks with your time horizon and ability to tolerate losses. A defensive allocation may help shape a portfolio’s risk, but it cannot substitute for cash needed soon or guarantee that principal will be preserved.
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