# How Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD) compares with the whole market and its popular alternatives

> Source: BetterThanSPY research, https://betterthanspy.com/research/td
> Data as of October 22, 2026. Total returns include reinvested dividends. Past performance does not predict future results; nothing here is investment advice.

Built by QuantCommons' quantitative engine, this page is about relative opportunity, not data on TD alone. It places TD (The Toronto-Dominion Bank) against 20+ popular alternatives, its neighboring categories and the entire market of over 10,000 U.S.-listed stocks and ETFs, and surfaces what has done better on consistent outperformance, return for the risk taken, behavior in real market crashes and diversification. The result is a clearer view of where TD stands in the market, and of the alternatives worth a closer look.

Period covered: TD's full trading record, from August 1996 through September 2026. All returns include reinvested dividends. Data as of October 22, 2026.

## Key findings

- **Right now:** TD has outpaced the market, rising 21.3% over the past 6 months against 8.0% for the S&P 500 and 7.8% for the Nasdaq 100. Not every peer went the same way. Over the past 6 months, BNS (Bank of Nova Scotia) rose 26.6% and BAC (Bank of America) fell 2.9%.
- **Stock or market?:** TD held up far better than its industry: it rose 3.9% over the past 3 months while the banks ETF KBE (State Street SPDR S&P Bank ETF) fell 4.5%. The S&P 500 rose 2.5%. Its bank peers did not move as one over the past 3 months: BNS (Bank of Nova Scotia) rose 7.6%, while BAC (Bank of America) fell 16.7%.
- **Past 1 to 3 years:** Over the past year, TD rose 59.4% against 15.6% for the S&P 500 and 16.9% for the Nasdaq 100. The same gap shows up over 3 years (147% against 88.4%). TD lagged its bank peers in 2023, then moved up the pack in 2025.
- **Long term:** The past 5 years have been the better stretch: TD rose 114% against 80.3% for the S&P 500, after trailing over the decade. TD's 10-year return of 319% puts it ahead of 75% of the stocks worth at least $300 million with that much history. The S&P 500 returned 316%.
- **In a crash:** Across seven sell-offs, TD has typically fallen 1.2 times as far as the S&P 500. That said, in the 2022 bear market, TD held up better than JPM (JPMorgan Chase & Co.), BAC and HSBC; only RY (Royal Bank of Canada) and SMFG fell less.
- **Diversification:** Against the S&P 500, TD has a correlation of 0.55 over 5 years, more closely than 83% of stocks worth at least $300 million. Next to an index fund it is some diversification, but not a hedge. Over 10 years, TD's beta versus the S&P 500 was 0.88: 89% of the S&P 500's gains in rising months and 80% of its losses in falling ones.
- **Better options:** Few investments have done better on both counts: only four of the 3,641 stocks and funds worth at least $500 million earned more than TD with less volatility over the past 5 years, among them RY (Royal Bank of Canada), MPLX and IAUM (iShares Gold Trust Micro).

## How much would $10,000 in TD have grown?

This chart tracks a hypothetical $10,000 investment in TD over the past 29 years, with dividends reinvested, alongside the same amount in the S&P 500, investments that ended ahead of TD over the same span and TD's popular alternatives, among those that traded for the entire period.

- $10,000 invested in TD at the end of September 1997 would have grown to $422,896 by September 2026, more than the $132,907 it would have become in SPY, an S&P 500 fund.
- Five of the eight other investments on the chart ended ahead of TD, and AAPL finished highest, at $20,534,853.

## TD at a glance

This section summarizes the key facts about the stock, its returns over periods from one to ten years and the risk it has carried, with dividends reinvested throughout.

- TD's deepest decline since it began trading in 1996 was 64.1%, from October 2007 to February 2009. It took 13 months from the low to climb back to its old high.
- TD is trading within 1% of its all-time high.
- Over 29 full calendar years, TD's best was 2009, when it returned 85.4%, and its worst was 2008, when it lost 46.8%. It lost money in eight of those years.

- Type: Stock, Financials (Banks - Diversified)
- Trading since: August 30, 1996
- Market value: $211B
- Volatility (5 years): 20.0%; Sharpe ratio: 0.87
- Worst decline ever: −64.1%, from October 1, 2007 to February 23, 2009; back at its high by March 11, 2010

| Period | TD total return |
| --- | --- |
| 1 month | +2.7% |
| 3 months | +3.9% |
| 6 months | +21.3% |
| year to date | +36.3% |
| 1 year | +59.4% |
| 3 years | +147% |
| 5 years | +114% |
| 10 years | +319% |

## TD against the whole market

Where TD ranks among every stock and fund, and what across the market has done better.

### How does TD rank among all stocks?

This section ranks TD on return, volatility, risk-adjusted return and worst decline against every stock worth at least $300 million with enough history.

- TD is among the steadier stocks: its price swings rank in the top 3% of the 2,897 stocks worth at least $300 million, where the top is the calmest.

| Measure | TD | Rank |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1-year return | +59.4% | 425 of 3,282 (top 13%) |
| 3-year return | +147% | 615 of 3,016 (top 21%) |
| 5-year return | +114% | 603 of 2,897 (top 21%) |
| 10-year return | +319% | 540 of 2,201 (top 25%) |
| Volatility, 5 years | 20.0% | 89 of 2,897 (top 4%) |
| Sharpe ratio, 5 years | 0.87 | 203 of 2,897 (top 8%) |
| Worst decline, past 10 years | −42.0% | 199 of 2,184 (top 10%) |

### What has beaten TD on both return and risk?

Each dot is an investment, placed by how much it earned a year over the past 5 years (higher is better) and how much its price swung, its volatility (further left is calmer).

- Two stocks and two ETFs worth at least $500 million sit in the green region: each earned more than TD over the past 5 years with smaller price swings. That is fewer than 1% of the 3,641 screened. Few investments beat it on both counts.
- Among those with at least half TD's swings, MPLX has the best return for its risk: 24.0% a year at 18.8% volatility, 6% less than TD's 20.0%, and a Sharpe ratio (return above cash per unit of volatility) of 1.25 against 0.87 for TD.
- Among TD's popular alternatives, RY is in the region. RY earned 17.5% a year against 16.5% a year for TD, at 18.2% volatility, 9% less than TD's 20.0%.

### Is there a better investment than TD?

The table below lists investments that beat TD over the past 5 years on at least one of these measures: a higher annual return with lower volatility, a higher annual return at similar volatility, a similar return with lower volatility, a higher Sharpe ratio with a smaller worst decline, a higher total return in most periods from 3 months to 10 years, or smaller losses in recent market crashes.

- Among TD's popular alternatives, RY earned more than TD with less volatility over the past 5 years: 17.5% a year at 18.2% volatility, against 16.5% a year at 20.0%.
- Looking beyond its popular alternatives, PBAM (regional banks) and OPPJ (japan equity) earned more than TD with less volatility over the past 5 years. PBAM returned 27.5% a year at 18.9% volatility, against 16.5% a year at 20.0%.
- Few investments have done better on both counts: only four of the 3,641 stocks and funds worth at least $500 million earned more than TD with less volatility over the past 5 years, among them RY, MPLX and IAUM.

The 4 strongest of 4 investments that beat TD over the past 5 years, out of 3,641 stocks and funds worth at least $500 million.

| Investment | Group | Annual return (5 years) | Volatility | Sharpe | Worst decline (10 years) | 10Y return | Correlation with TD | Better on |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| TD: The Toronto-Dominion Bank (this page) |  | +16.5% | 20.0% | 0.87 | −42.0% | +319% |  |  |
| [RY](https://betterthanspy.com/research/ry): Royal Bank of Canada | Banks | +17.5% | 18.2% | 0.98 | −40.0% | +361% | 0.74 | Higher return, lower volatility |
| [MPLX](https://betterthanspy.com/research/mplx): MPLX Lp | Oil & Gas Midstream | +24.0% | 18.8% | 1.25 | −75.2% | +337% | 0.35 | Higher return, lower volatility |
| SDCI: USCF SummerHaven Dynamic Commodity Strategy No K-1 Fund | Broad Commodities | +21.1% | 18.4% | 1.14 | −45.7% | — | 0.13 | Higher return, lower volatility |
| IAUM: iShares Gold Trust Micro | Gold | +17.5% | 18.8% | 0.95 | −26.3% | — | 0.12 | Higher return, lower volatility |

## TD against its popular alternatives

The investments people most often weigh against TD, compared period by period and year by year.

### How do TD's risk and return compare with its alternatives?

This map plots each investment's annual return over the past 5 years against its volatility, the size of its typical price swings.

- Only RY was both more rewarding and calmer than TD over the past 5 years, earning a higher annual return with lower volatility.
- Over the past 5 years, TD returned 16.5% a year, more than the S&P 500's 12.5%, with higher volatility (20.0% against 17.2%).

### Has TD consistently beaten its popular alternatives?

This section compares TD with the investments people most often weigh against it, checking each one over eight periods from one month to ten years.

- None of the 23 popular alternatives outperformed TD in at least 3 of 5 short-term and 2 of 3 long-term timeframes. The closest was MFC.
- RY earned more for the risk it took than TD (a higher Sharpe ratio) and fell less in its worst decline of the past 10 years.
- JPM outperformed TD over all three long-term periods but in none of the five short-term ones, so TD has had the better of it lately.

| Investment | 1Y return | 3Y return | 5Y return | 10Y return | Periods ahead of TD | Verdict | Sharpe |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| TD: The Toronto-Dominion Bank (this page) | +59.4% | +147% | +114% | +319% |  |  | 0.87 |
| [MFC](https://betterthanspy.com/research/mfc): Manulife Financial Corporation | +48.3% | +195% | +184% | +386% | 2/5 short-term, 3/3 long-term |  | 1.00 |
| [MUFG](https://betterthanspy.com/research/mufg): Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. | +44.6% | +185% | +325% | +485% | 1/5 short-term, 3/3 long-term |  | 1.14 |
| [JPM](https://betterthanspy.com/research/jpm): JPMorgan Chase & Co. | +16.6% | +154% | +122% | +534% | 0/5 short-term, 3/3 long-term |  | 0.78 |
| [SMFG](https://betterthanspy.com/research/smfg): Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc. | +54.8% | +181% | +332% | +470% | 0/5 short-term, 3/3 long-term |  | 1.15 |
| [CM](https://betterthanspy.com/research/cm): Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce | +46.1% | +265% | +144% | +409% | 0/5 short-term, 3/3 long-term |  | 0.94 |
| [RY](https://betterthanspy.com/research/ry): Royal Bank of Canada | +41.5% | +176% | +124% | +361% | 0/5 short-term, 3/3 long-term |  | 0.98 |
| [ING](https://betterthanspy.com/research/ing): ING Groep N.V. | +41.5% | +203% | +196% | +330% | 0/5 short-term, 3/3 long-term |  | 0.86 |
| [HSBC](https://betterthanspy.com/research/hsbc): HSBC Holdings plc | +44.7% | +199% | +313% | +314% | 0/5 short-term, 2/3 long-term |  | 1.23 |
| [SAN](https://betterthanspy.com/research/san): Banco Santander, S.A. | +34.9% | +301% | +297% | +307% | 0/5 short-term, 2/3 long-term |  | 0.99 |
| [BCS](https://betterthanspy.com/research/bcs): Barclays PLC | +9.3% | +240% | +132% | +232% | 0/5 short-term, 2/3 long-term |  | 0.67 |
| [DB](https://betterthanspy.com/research/db): Deutsche Bank AG | −1.7% | +240% | +167% | +161% | 0/5 short-term, 2/3 long-term |  | 0.71 |
| [BNS](https://betterthanspy.com/research/bns): The Bank of Nova Scotia | +51.5% | +165% | +86.2% | +191% | 2/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.73 |
| [AXP](https://betterthanspy.com/research/axp): American Express Company | −6.6% | +133% | +84.7% | +455% | 1/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.57 |
| [C](https://betterthanspy.com/research/c): Citigroup Inc. | +29.9% | +245% | +104% | +234% | 0/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.63 |
| [BAM](https://betterthanspy.com/research/bam): Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. | −8.3% | +74.1% | — | — | 1/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | — |
| [BMO](https://betterthanspy.com/research/bmo): Bank of Montreal | +40.2% | +150% | +92.4% | +304% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.72 |
| [BAC](https://betterthanspy.com/research/bac): Bank of America Corporation | +2.1% | +115% | +21.4% | +281% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.28 |
| [SLF](https://betterthanspy.com/research/slf): Sun Life Financial Inc. | +36.7% | +99.2% | +75.3% | +260% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.68 |
| [PNC](https://betterthanspy.com/research/pnc): The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. | +28.6% | +129% | +25.8% | +237% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.31 |
| [SCHW](https://betterthanspy.com/research/schw): The Charles Schwab Corporation | −1.8% | +93.2% | +17.0% | +223% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.26 |
| [WFC](https://betterthanspy.com/research/wfc): Wells Fargo & Company | +1.1% | +126% | +85.1% | +140% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.57 |
| [USB](https://betterthanspy.com/research/usb): U.S. Bancorp | +31.7% | +118% | +19.1% | +97.4% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.27 |
| [TFC](https://betterthanspy.com/research/tfc): Truist Financial Corporation | +15.8% | +108% | −4.4% | +87.1% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.13 |

### How did TD do year by year?

This table shows each investment's total return in every full calendar year since 1997, along with where TD ranked among its popular alternatives each year.

- Ranked against its popular alternatives each year, TD finished in the top quarter in 11 of 29 years and in the bottom quarter in four. In 2025, it ranked 5 of 24.
- TD finished ahead of the S&P 500 in 18 of its 29 full calendar years.
- Among its popular alternatives, RY came out ahead of TD most often, in 16 of the 29 years both traded.

| Year | TD | SPY |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 2025 | +85.3% | +17.7% |
| 2024 | −13.4% | +24.9% |
| 2023 | +4.5% | +26.2% |
| 2022 | −12.2% | −18.2% |
| 2021 | +41.3% | +28.7% |
| 2020 | +5.6% | +18.3% |
| 2019 | +17.5% | +31.2% |
| 2018 | −12.1% | −4.6% |
| 2017 | +22.9% | +21.7% |
| 2016 | +30.9% | +12.0% |

## Risk and diversification

How TD has fallen, how it held up in crashes beside the S&P 500 and its popular alternatives, and what moves independently of it.

### What were TD's worst declines?

A drawdown is the decline from a peak to the lowest point before a new high.

- In all five of TD's worst declines, the S&P 500 held up better over the same dates.
- Not every decline was the market's doing: TD fell 41.0% from April to August 1999, while the S&P 500 slipped only 3.7%.
- The longest climb back to a previous high took 13 months, after TD fell 64.1% from October 2007 to February 2009.

| Decline | Peak | Low | Back at the high | SPY over the same dates | Market event |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| −64.1% | October 1, 2007 | February 23, 2009 | March 11, 2010 | −50.2% | 2008 financial crisis |
| −51.5% | April 16, 1998 | October 5, 1998 | April 6, 1999 | −10.3% |  |
| −44.1% | October 5, 2000 | October 4, 2002 | June 11, 2003 | −42.4% | dot-com bust |
| −42.0% | September 20, 2018 | March 23, 2020 | December 9, 2020 | −21.4% | late-2018 sell-off |
| −41.0% | April 13, 1999 | August 9, 1999 | August 28, 2000 | −3.7% |  |

### How did TD do in stock market crashes?

This section measures how far TD, the S&P 500 and each alternative fell from peak to trough during every major market crash since 2000.

- TD fell further than the S&P 500 in seven of the ten crashes it has traded through. The clearest case was the 2008 financial crisis, when TD fell 63.4% and the S&P 500 fell 55.2%.
- None of its popular alternatives fell less than TD in most of the crashes they both traded through.

| Crash | Dates | TD fall | SPY fall |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Dot-com bust | March 10, 2000 to October 9, 2002 | −44.1% | −47.5% |
| Global financial crisis | October 9, 2007 to March 9, 2009 | −63.4% | −55.2% |
| Flash crash | May 6, 2010 to May 7, 2010 | 0.0% | −1.5% |
| Euro debt crisis | July 22, 2011 to October 3, 2011 | −19.6% | −17.9% |
| China devaluation & oil rout | August 10, 2015 to February 11, 2016 | −18.1% | −12.8% |
| Volmageddon | February 2, 2018 to February 9, 2018 | −5.5% | −6.5% |
| Q4 2018 selloff | September 21, 2018 to December 24, 2018 | −20.9% | −19.3% |
| COVID crash | February 19, 2020 to March 23, 2020 | −41.0% | −33.7% |
| 2022 bear market | January 4, 2022 to October 12, 2022 | −29.0% | −24.5% |
| SVB / regional bank stress | March 8, 2023 to March 13, 2023 | −6.7% | −3.4% |

### How closely does TD move with the S&P 500?

Upside capture measures how much of the S&P 500's gains an investment kept in the months the market rose, and downside capture how much of its losses it took in the months the market fell.

- MUFG took just 42% of the S&P 500's losses, against 80% for TD, while still keeping 84% of its gains.
- Over the past 10 years, TD captured 89% of the S&P 500's gains in rising months and 80% of its losses in falling months, with a beta of 0.88. That is a defensive profile: it gave up some of the market's upside in exchange for smaller losses.
- Five of the 22 popular alternatives had a higher capture ratio (upside capture divided by downside capture) than TD's 1.10, led by MUFG, SMFG and HSBC.

Measured over the past 10 years of monthly returns against SPY.

| Investment | Upside capture | Downside capture | Beta |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| TD: The Toronto-Dominion Bank (this page) | 89.0% | 80.0% | 0.88 |
| [MFC](https://betterthanspy.com/research/mfc): Manulife Financial Corporation | 110% | 110% | 1.10 |
| [MUFG](https://betterthanspy.com/research/mufg): Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. | 84.0% | 42.0% | 0.66 |
| [JPM](https://betterthanspy.com/research/jpm): JPMorgan Chase & Co. | 117% | 103% | 1.09 |
| [SMFG](https://betterthanspy.com/research/smfg): Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc. | 84.0% | 43.0% | 0.65 |
| [CM](https://betterthanspy.com/research/cm): Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce | 108% | 106% | 1.07 |
| [RY](https://betterthanspy.com/research/ry): Royal Bank of Canada | 97.0% | 88.0% | 0.88 |
| [ING](https://betterthanspy.com/research/ing): ING Groep N.V. | 136% | 155% | 1.36 |
| [HSBC](https://betterthanspy.com/research/hsbc): HSBC Holdings plc | 79.0% | 53.0% | 0.58 |
| [SAN](https://betterthanspy.com/research/san): Banco Santander, S.A. | 101% | 92.0% | 1.02 |
| [BCS](https://betterthanspy.com/research/bcs): Barclays PLC | 113% | 131% | 1.26 |
| [DB](https://betterthanspy.com/research/db): Deutsche Bank AG | 102% | 118% | 1.21 |
| [BNS](https://betterthanspy.com/research/bns): The Bank of Nova Scotia | 97.0% | 120% | 1.05 |
| [AXP](https://betterthanspy.com/research/axp): American Express Company | 117% | 113% | 1.16 |
| [C](https://betterthanspy.com/research/c): Citigroup Inc. | 131% | 165% | 1.49 |
| [BMO](https://betterthanspy.com/research/bmo): Bank of Montreal | 104% | 112% | 1.12 |
| [BAC](https://betterthanspy.com/research/bac): Bank of America Corporation | 127% | 146% | 1.36 |
| [SLF](https://betterthanspy.com/research/slf): Sun Life Financial Inc. | 87.0% | 85.0% | 0.96 |
| [PNC](https://betterthanspy.com/research/pnc): The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. | 108% | 127% | 1.15 |
| [SCHW](https://betterthanspy.com/research/schw): The Charles Schwab Corporation | 89.0% | 90.0% | 0.91 |
| [WFC](https://betterthanspy.com/research/wfc): Wells Fargo & Company | 96.0% | 129% | 1.13 |
| [USB](https://betterthanspy.com/research/usb): U.S. Bancorp | 89.0% | 130% | 1.05 |
| [TFC](https://betterthanspy.com/research/tfc): Truist Financial Corporation | 86.0% | 126% | 1.11 |

### What diversifies TD?

Correlation measures how closely two investments move together, on a scale from 1 (in lockstep) through 0 (unrelated) to -1 (in opposite directions).

- Moving a fifth of the money in TD into DXJ would have cut the portfolio's volatility by 17% over the past 5 years and raised its annual return (+17.1% for TD alone, +19.5% for the mix).
- Among large ETFs, DXJ, EMLP and HDV have moved largely independently of TD over the past 5 years, with correlations of 0.46 or lower, and each still earned a positive 5-year return.
- FIX made money in five of the eight calendar years in which TD lost money.

| Investment | Correlation with TD | 5Y return | Volatility | Sharpe | Rose in TD's 8 down years |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| DXJ: WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund | 0.22 | +225% | 19.1% | 1.34 | 3 of 8 |
| EMLP: First Trust North American Energy Infrastructure Fund | 0.43 | +103% | 14.5% | 1.06 | 2 of 8 |
| HDV: iShares Core High Dividend ETF | 0.46 | +86.8% | 13.0% | 1.03 | 2 of 8 |
| FTLS: First Trust Long/Short Equity ETF | 0.42 | +61.5% | 10.5% | 0.97 | 2 of 8 |
| [SMH](https://betterthanspy.com/research/smh): VanEck Semiconductor ETF | 0.41 | +304% | 37.0% | 0.94 | 1 of 8 |
| [XLE](https://betterthanspy.com/research/xle): State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF | 0.29 | +178% | 25.5% | 0.94 | 2 of 8 |
| [GLD](https://betterthanspy.com/research/gld): SPDR Gold Shares | 0.12 | +120% | 19.0% | 0.93 | 2 of 8 |
| FLTW: Franklin FTSE Taiwan ETF | 0.49 | +162% | 24.4% | 0.92 | 1 of 8 |

## Common questions

### What was TD's worst drawdown?

TD's deepest decline since it began trading in 1996 was 64.1%, from October 2007 to February 2009. It took 13 months from the low to climb back to its old high.

### What were TD's best and worst years?

Over 29 full calendar years, TD's best year was 2009, when it returned 85.4%. Its worst was 2008, with a return of -46.8%.

### Is there a better investment than TD?

Among TD's popular alternatives, RY earned more than TD with less volatility over the past 5 years: 17.5% a year at 18.2% volatility, against 16.5% a year at 20.0%. Looking beyond its popular alternatives, PBAM (regional banks) and OPPJ (japan equity) earned more than TD with less volatility over the past 5 years. PBAM returned 27.5% a year at 18.9% volatility, against 16.5% a year at 20.0%.

### Is TD more volatile than the S&P 500?

Yes. TD's volatility over the past 5 years was 20.0%, 1.2 times the S&P 500's 17.2%. Volatility measures how widely returns swing around their average: in roughly two years out of three, TD's return lands within 20.0% of its average, either way. The higher it is, the rougher the ride and the harder it is to hold through a slump.

### What is TD's Sharpe ratio?

TD's Sharpe ratio over the past 5 years was 0.87, against 0.78 for the S&P 500, so TD earned more for each unit of risk than an index fund did. The Sharpe ratio is the return earned above cash for each unit of volatility: two investments with the same return are not equal if one got there with far bigger swings.

### How correlated is TD with the S&P 500?

Over the past 5 years, TD's monthly returns had a correlation of 0.55 with the S&P 500. Correlation runs from 1 (moving in lockstep) through 0 (unrelated) to −1 (moving in opposite directions). They often move together: some diversification next to an index fund, but not a cushion. In the table, the correlation column measures each option against TD instead: the lower it is, the more that option would diversify a TD holding.

### What are the best alternatives to TD?

None of the 23 popular alternatives we compared outperformed TD in at least 3 of 5 short-term and 2 of 3 long-term timeframes, which says more about TD's strength than about its alternatives.

### Did TD outperform the S&P 500?

TD finished ahead of the S&P 500 (SPY) in 18 of 29 full calendar years. In 2025, it returned +85.3%, against +17.7% for the index.

### How did TD do in stock market crashes?

TD fell less than the S&P 500 (SPY) in three of the ten major crashes it has traded through, and further in seven. The clearest case was the 2008 financial crisis, when TD fell 63.4% and the S&P 500 fell 55.2%.

### What diversifies TD?

These had a low correlation with TD over the past 5 years and still earned a positive 5-year return: among large ETFs, DXJ (correlation 0.22), EMLP (correlation 0.43) and HDV (correlation 0.46); among large stocks, CAH (correlation 0.26), CLS (correlation 0.25) and MCK (correlation 0.07). A correlation near zero means the two have moved largely independently.

## More research

- [Manulife Financial (MFC) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://betterthanspy.com/research/mfc)
- [Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://betterthanspy.com/research/mufg)
- [JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://betterthanspy.com/research/jpm)
- [Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://betterthanspy.com/research/smfg)
- [Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://betterthanspy.com/research/cm)
- [Royal Bank of Canada (RY) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://betterthanspy.com/research/ry)
- [ING Groep (ING) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://betterthanspy.com/research/ing)
- [HSBC Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://betterthanspy.com/research/hsbc)
- [Banco Santander (SAN) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://betterthanspy.com/research/san)
- [Barclays (BCS) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://betterthanspy.com/research/bcs)
- [Deutsche Bank (DB) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://betterthanspy.com/research/db)
- [Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://betterthanspy.com/research/bns)

## Explore further

- Full page with charts: https://betterthanspy.com/research/td
- All research pages: https://betterthanspy.com/llms.txt
- Compare the entire market against TD live: https://betterthanspy.com/?b=TD