# DBC ETF: fees, returns, drawdowns and holdings

> What DBC holds, its 0.85% yearly fee, returns by year, its worst drop, and which Tactfolio strategies hold it. Updated daily.

Invesco DB Commodity Index Tracking Fund (DBC) is an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that holds commodity futures run by Invesco. This fund does not own stocks. It charges 0.85% a year. From February 2006 to October 2026 it returned about 2.8% a year, and its worst drop was −76.4%.

Written by [the Tactfolio research team](https://tactfolio.com/about/editorial-policy). Fund facts checked October 16, 2026. Prices through October 16, 2026.

## Key points

- Expense ratio: 0.85% a year (about $85 on $10,000).
- Started trading on February 3, 2006.
- Last close: $33.74 on October 16, 2026.
- Return over the last year: 57.5%.
- Worst drop since 2006: −76.4%.
- 10 Tactfolio classic strategies hold it.

## How has DBC done since 2006?

From February 2006 to October 2026, DBC returned about 2.8% a year. The S&P 500 returned about 11.1% a year over the same dates. Say you put in $10,000 at the start. It would have been worth about $17,587 at the end, with every dividend reinvested.

| Period | DBC | S&P 500 (SPY) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1 month | 1.8% | 1.5% |
| 3 months | 18.6% | 1.9% |
| 6 months | 15.9% | 9.3% |
| Year to date | 50.9% | 12.8% |
| 1 year | 57.5% | 16.8% |
| 3 years, per year | 15.9% | 22.0% |
| 5 years, per year | 12.3% | 12.8% |
| 10 years, per year | 10.1% | 15.4% |
| Since 2006, per year | 2.8% | 11.1% |

Periods longer than a year show the return per year (CAGR). Prices through October 16, 2026. Figures use daily closing prices adjusted for splits, with dividends reinvested. They do not include taxes or the cost of buying and selling. Past results do not tell you what will happen next.

## DBC returns by month and year

DBC rose in 130 of its 249 months (52%). Its best month was May 2009, at 16.3%. Its worst was October 2008, at −25.1%.

| Year | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Full year |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2026 (part) | 9.3% | 2.7% | 15.3% | 7.4% | −5.2% | −9.6% | 10.5% | 6.3% | 3.3% | 4.4% |  |  | 50.9% |
| 2025 | 2.8% | 0.1% | 2.3% | −8.6% | 1.5% | 4.5% | 2.9% | −1.1% | 1.4% | 1.6% | 0.8% | 0.2% | 8.1% |
| 2024 | 1.3% | −1.5% | 4.5% | 1.6% | −0.3% | −0.2% | −2.8% | −2.1% | 0.7% | 1.4% | −2.0% | 1.7% | 2.2% |
| 2023 | 0.9% | −4.5% | −0.1% | −0.8% | −6.4% | 2.9% | 8.7% | −0.4% | 1.5% | −1.8% | −2.5% | −3.3% | −6.2% |
| 2022 | 7.9% | 6.5% | 9.2% | 5.6% | 4.6% | −7.5% | −2.0% | −1.5% | −7.0% | 5.1% | 1.5% | −2.7% | 19.3% |
| 2021 | 3.3% | 10.1% | −0.7% | 7.8% | 3.9% | 3.5% | 1.3% | −1.6% | 5.2% | 5.8% | −8.8% | 6.7% | 41.4% |
| 2020 | −8.6% | −6.7% | −17.3% | −3.1% | 8.1% | 4.5% | 5.1% | 4.6% | −3.5% | −3.1% | 10.2% | 5.5% | −7.8% |
| 2019 | 7.1% | 2.8% | −0.4% | 1.2% | −6.0% | 4.0% | −1.1% | −4.6% | 1.4% | 1.9% | −0.1% | 5.9% | 11.8% |
| 2018 | 2.9% | −2.9% | 2.3% | 3.4% | 2.7% | −1.9% | −2.4% | 0.8% | 3.4% | −5.6% | −9.8% | −4.0% | −11.6% |
| 2017 | −0.6% | −0.2% | −3.2% | −2.7% | −1.4% | −1.0% | 4.1% | 0.4% | 2.0% | 4.0% | 0.9% | 2.8% | 4.9% |
| 2016 | −4.3% | −0.2% | 4.2% | 9.7% | 0.9% | 4.3% | −7.0% | 0.8% | 4.3% | −0.3% | 1.7% | 4.1% | 18.6% |
| 2015 | −5.7% | 4.4% | −6.0% | 7.1% | −3.2% | 1.6% | −12.6% | −0.3% | −3.4% | 0.3% | −6.6% | −5.9% | −27.6% |
| 2014 | −3.0% | 5.0% | 0.0% | 1.1% | −1.4% | 2.1% | −4.7% | −1.1% | −7.2% | −3.9% | −8.5% | −9.7% | −28.1% |
| 2013 | 2.5% | −4.7% | 0.7% | −3.8% | −1.6% | −2.8% | 3.2% | 2.8% | −3.4% | 0.0% | −0.9% | 0.6% | −7.6% |
| 2012 | 3.7% | 5.3% | −1.8% | −1.4% | −11.2% | 2.0% | 5.8% | 5.7% | −0.4% | −3.9% | 2.0% | −1.1% | 3.5% |
| 2011 | 3.6% | 4.2% | 2.7% | 4.6% | −5.2% | −4.3% | 4.6% | −0.4% | −14.6% | 7.6% | −0.3% | −2.9% | −2.6% |
| 2010 | −7.8% | 4.1% | −0.5% | 3.9% | −10.2% | −1.8% | 6.1% | −3.0% | 8.6% | 4.4% | −0.4% | 9.9% | 11.9% |
| 2009 | −4.4% | −5.6% | 4.7% | −0.1% | 16.3% | −2.6% | 1.9% | −4.0% | −0.2% | 6.9% | 4.5% | −0.2% | 16.2% |
| 2008 | 2.9% | 11.2% | −0.9% | 6.0% | 6.9% | 10.4% | −9.8% | −6.5% | −10.3% | −25.1% | −12.4% | −3.3% | −31.8% |
| 2007 | −2.4% | 5.1% | 0.7% | 0.8% | −0.2% | 0.7% | 1.9% | −1.9% | 9.4% | 8.5% | −0.6% | 6.7% | 31.6% |
| 2006 (part) |  | −3.8% | 2.8% | 7.0% | −0.4% | −0.9% | 2.2% | −3.3% | −4.2% | 1.0% | 6.6% | −2.3% | 4.1% |

Each month runs from the last close of the month before. The first month counts from the first close.

## How risky is DBC compared with the S&P 500?

Measured from October 2021 to October 2026, on the days both traded.

- **Beta 0.18.** When the S&P 500 moved 1% in a day, DBC tended to move about 0.18%.
- **Correlation 0.16.** DBC moved mostly on its own, apart from the S&P 500.
- **Up and down months.** In months the S&P 500 rose, DBC rose 47% as much on average. In months it fell, DBC fell 3% as much.

| Measure | DBC | S&P 500 (SPY) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Return per year | 12.5% | 12.8% |
| Volatility | 19.3% | 17.1% |
| Worst drop | −27.3% | −24.5% |
| Sharpe ratio | 0.71 | 0.79 |
| Sortino ratio | 0.99 | 1.15 |
| Calmar ratio | 0.46 | 0.52 |

Volatility is how much the price swings in a year. The Sharpe ratio is return per unit of volatility, the Sortino ratio counts only the falls, and the Calmar ratio is the return per year over the worst drop. Higher ratios mean more return for the risk taken.

## Is DBC above its 200-day average?

DBC closed 17.6% above its 200-day average on October 16, 2026. A rule that holds DBC only above that average would hold it today.

- Its 50-day average is 11.5% above its 200-day average.
- It closed at its highest price of the last 52 weeks.

A moving average is the average close over the last so many days. Trend rules such as [the 10-month moving average strategy](https://tactfolio.com/strategies/faber-10-month-moving-average.md) hold a fund only while it is above one. You can [build that rule for DBC](https://tactfolio.com/builder) and backtest it in a minute.

## What was DBC's worst drop?

A drawdown is how far a fund falls from its last high point. DBC's worst fall was −76.4%, from July 2, 2008 to April 27, 2020. By October 16, 2026 it had not yet climbed back to that high. On October 16, 2026 it was 12.7% below its highest close.

| Drop | Started | Bottom | Back to the high | Fall took | Recovery took |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| −76.4% | Jul 2, 2008 | Apr 27, 2020 | Not yet | 11.8 years | n/a |
| −14.4% | May 11, 2006 | Sep 20, 2006 | Jun 14, 2007 | 4 months | 9 months |
| −10.0% | Mar 13, 2008 | Mar 20, 2008 | Apr 16, 2008 | 7 days | 27 days |
| −7.8% | Feb 6, 2006 | Feb 15, 2006 | Apr 6, 2006 | 9 days | 2 months |
| −6.7% | May 21, 2008 | Jun 4, 2008 | Jun 9, 2008 | 14 days | 5 days |

Big drops are normal for some funds. They matter because selling during a drop locks in the loss.

## What does DBC hold?

This fund does not own stocks. It holds futures contracts on a mix of commodities such as oil, gas, gold, metals, crops and livestock, plus Treasury bills and money market funds. Its value rises and falls with those raw material prices, and it sends a K-1 tax form instead of a 1099.

It tracks the DBIQ Optimum Yield Diversified Commodity Index Excess Return.

| Fact | DBC |
| --- | --- |
| Full name | Invesco DB Commodity Index Tracking Fund |
| Issuer | Invesco |
| Expense ratio | 0.85% a year |
| Started trading | February 3, 2006 |
| Tracks | DBIQ Optimum Yield Diversified Commodity Index Excess Return |
| Type | Commodities, Commodity pool ETF |
| Facts checked | October 16, 2026 on the [Invesco fund page](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1328237/000119312526368455/d105975d424b3.htm) |

## What is the DBC expense ratio?

DBC charges 0.85% a year. An expense ratio is the yearly fee a fund takes to run itself. On $10,000, a 0.85% fee comes to about $85 a year. Of the 162 ETFs on Tactfolio, 1% charge more.

You never get a bill for it. The fund takes the fee out of its own value a little each day.

## Which Tactfolio strategies hold DBC?

10 classic strategies hold DBC at least some of the time. Each is a set of written rules you can open, test and copy.

- [Hybrid Asset Allocation (HAA)](https://tactfolio.com/strategies/hybrid-asset-allocation.md), by Wouter Keller and JW Keuning, 2023
- [Bold Asset Allocation (BAA)](https://tactfolio.com/strategies/bold-asset-allocation.md), by Wouter Keller, 2022
- [Adaptive Asset Allocation (AAA)](https://tactfolio.com/strategies/adaptive-asset-allocation.md), by Adam Butler, Michael Philbrick, Rodrigo Gordillo, and David Varadi, 2012
- [Bold Asset Allocation G4 (BAA aggressive)](https://tactfolio.com/strategies/bold-asset-allocation-g4.md), by Wouter Keller, 2022
- [Mama Bear Portfolio (Muscular Portfolios)](https://tactfolio.com/strategies/mama-bear-portfolio.md), by Brian Livingston, 2018
- [Papa Bear Portfolio (Muscular Portfolios)](https://tactfolio.com/strategies/papa-bear-portfolio.md), by Brian Livingston, 2018
- [US Risk Parity Trend-Following (The Trend is Our Friend)](https://tactfolio.com/strategies/us-risk-parity-trend-following.md), by Andrew Clare, James Seaton, Peter N. Smith, and Stephen Thomas, 2016
- [Defense First (Carlson’s defensive tactical model)](https://tactfolio.com/strategies/defense-first.md), by Thomas D. Carlson, 2025
- [Kipnis Defensive Adaptive Asset Allocation (KDA)](https://tactfolio.com/strategies/kipnis-defensive-asset-allocation.md), by Ilya Kipnis, 2019
- [All Weather Portfolio (Ray Dalio’s All Seasons)](https://tactfolio.com/strategies/all-weather-portfolio.md), by Ray Dalio and Tony Robbins, 2014

## How does DBC compare with similar ETFs?

Funds that can stand in for DBC:

- [DJP](https://tactfolio.com/etf/DJP.md): iPath Bloomberg Commodity Index Total Return ETN, 0.7% a year
- [GSG](https://tactfolio.com/etf/GSG.md): iShares S&P GSCI Commodity-Indexed Trust, 0.75% a year
- [GLDM](https://tactfolio.com/etf/GLDM.md): SPDR Gold MiniShares, 0.1% a year
- [SGOL](https://tactfolio.com/etf/SGOL.md): abrdn Physical Gold Shares ETF, 0.17% a year

See [all 8 DBC alternatives](https://tactfolio.com/alternatives/DBC.md), compared on the same dates as DBC.

## Test DBC in your own rules

Tactfolio is a platform where you build rules-based investing strategies, backtest them on decades of real prices, share them, and run them automatically in your own Alpaca account. Open the [builder](https://tactfolio.com/builder), add DBC, and see how a rule such as "hold it only above its 200-day average" would have done. Strategies run on daily prices and hold US stocks and ETFs only.

## The details

Prices come from Tactfolio's stored daily prices for DBC and SPY. Each close is adjusted for splits, and dividends are reinvested on the day the fund pays them out. CAGR is the steady yearly return that turns the starting value into the ending value. Volatility is the yearly standard deviation of daily returns. Beta and correlation compare daily returns with the S&P 500 over the same dates.

Fund facts come from Invesco. We checked them on October 16, 2026. Read [what a backtest simulates](https://tactfolio.com/docs/backtests.md) and [how to read drawdown and CAGR](https://tactfolio.com/docs/concepts/reading-a-backtest.md) for more on these measures.

## Research and test it

- [Commodities](https://tactfolio.com/learn/commodities-explained): Commodities are raw goods like oil, gold and wheat.
- [Risk parity](https://tactfolio.com/learn/risk-parity): Risk parity balances risk instead of dollars. See a simple stock and bond example, why funds use leverage, and what went wrong in 2022.
- [ETF screener](https://tactfolio.com/screener.md): A free ETF screener for 162 US-listed funds. Filter by type, issuer and fee, sort by returns or worst drop, and compare funds side by side.
- [ETF expense ratio](https://tactfolio.com/learn/etf-expense-ratio): What an ETF expense ratio is, how the fund charges it, and how 0.03% vs 1% adds up over 10 and 30 years, with real fund examples.
- [Backtest a portfolio](https://tactfolio.com/trading-tools/backtest-portfolio): Backtest a portfolio of US stocks and ETFs. Enter tickers and shares, pick when to rebalance, and get the results with a link to share.
- [Backtesting](https://tactfolio.com/backtesting): Free backtesting software for stocks, ETFs, and crypto perps.

## Common questions

### What is the expense ratio of DBC?

DBC charges 0.85% a year, according to Invesco as of October 16, 2026. That is about $85 a year for every $10,000 you hold.

### When did DBC start trading?

DBC started trading on February 3, 2006. It is run by Invesco.

### What does DBC track?

DBC tracks the DBIQ Optimum Yield Diversified Commodity Index Excess Return. This fund does not own stocks.

### How much has DBC returned per year?

From February 2006 to October 2026, DBC returned about 2.8% a year with dividends reinvested. Its worst drop was −76.4%. Past returns do not tell you what it will do next.

### Is DBC above its 200-day moving average?

On October 16, 2026, DBC closed 17.6% above its 200-day moving average. This page updates after each US market close.

### Which strategies use DBC?

10 of Tactfolio's classic strategies hold DBC, including Hybrid Asset Allocation (HAA), Bold Asset Allocation (BAA), Adaptive Asset Allocation (AAA).

## Sources

- [Invesco: Invesco DB Commodity Index Tracking Fund fund page](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1328237/000119312526368455/d105975d424b3.htm)

> Not financial advice. Tactfolio is a research and automation tool. It is not a broker or a financial adviser. This page is for education only. Backtests are hypothetical. They show how rules would have done on past prices, not how they will do. All investing involves risk, including losing the money you put in.