LDS Church Fund Scores Another $3 Billion in Equity Gains in Three Months

The latest SEC report from Ensign Peak Advisors shows the faith’s investment account is now worth nearly $50 billion, up nearly $20 billion since the start of the pandemic.

Editor’s Note This story is only available to Salt Lake Tribune subscribers. Thank you for supporting local journalism.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints extended its 15-month profit streak this spring by playing in the US stock market as the major investment fund posted profit after profit, earning another $3 billion in three months.

In fact, new federal reports show that the account controlled by the religions Ensign Peak Consultants from Salt Lake City is now worth $49.6 billion after adding nearly $20 billion in value since the onset of the COVID-19 crisis.

These stocks and mutual funds appear to represent a significant portion of the total value of Ensign Peak, which was reported by a whistleblower at the end of 2019 to be worth at least $100 billion.

In the second quarter of 2021, the once-secret fund also waived some of its well-publicized holdings in so-called meme stocks, including GameStop, Blackberry, and Bed, Bath & Beyond, after it reported a profitable surge of those shares through their social media. shares had been held. -powered build-up at the end of 2020.

Fund managers also reduced churches’ investments in Tesla, from $433 million at the end of March to $381 million three months later.

But Ensign Peaks’ long-standing stake in major tech companies grew, with combined shares in Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Facebook and two flavors of Google now worth $8.9 billion in total, just over $1 billion. more than at the end of March.

New filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission show that the fund grew 6.57% in April, May and June alone and is now about a third larger than a year ago.

Ensign Peak filed its first public report on its equity portfolio with U.S. regulators in early 2020 following the whistleblower’s revelations, which lists a $37.8 billion worth and 1,659 separate holdings. The massive account then plunged below $30 billion the following quarter, according to SEC filings, as financial markets around the world collapsed amid the coronavirus.

Like the broader markets, Ensign Peak has posted quarterly gains since then, including a $6.9 billion increase in the three months following the March 2020 pandemic lows. The $3 billion advance in the second quarter of this year brings it now $19.7 billion ahead of its pandemic lows, with holdings in 1,822 stocks and mutual funds.

The investment fund caused a stir in May when it reported that its shares in video game retailer GameStop jumped in value from $867,000 to $8.7 million in just a few months, with a gain of 907%. New filings show that the fund sold those 46,000 shares in the second quarter.

In December 2019, David Nielsen, a former fund manager at Ensign Peak, filed a whistleblower complaint with the IRS accusing the church of collecting a $100 billion reserve fund from excess tithes intended for, but never spent on, charities in possible violation of tax laws.

To date, the tax authorities have not issued any signals that follow up on the complaint.

Church leaders have described Ensign Peak’s investment reserves as a rainy day bill to help the global religion of 16.6 million members weather the economic downturn and fund its operations around the world.

In a high-profile lawsuit filed by former Utahn James Huntsman, church leaders and their attorneys have acknowledged that the profits used for invested reserve funds, which SEC reports indicate could be significant for commercial ventures, including mall construction. City Creek Center in downtown Salt Lake City.

Huntsman, a brother of former Utah governor Jon Huntsman Jr. and a son of the late industrialist-philanthropist Jon Huntsman Sr. of Utah, who had served in the Church as an Area Seventy and died in 2018, cites the whistleblower case in its federal fraud case.

The California businessman alleges that Church leaders have repeatedly and publicly lied about billions of dollars in member donations, claiming that money intended for missionary work, temple building and charitable work was instead being used for for-profit projects.

His lawsuit is demanding at least $5 million in refunded tithing, interest, and fines.

Editor’s Note James Huntsman is a brother of Paul Huntsman, chairman of the board of the nonprofit Salt Lake Tribunes.