Report: Mormon church investment fund had nearly $38 billion

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press


Updated 2:40 pm CST, Saturday, March 7, 2020

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The Church of Jesus Chris of Latter-day Saints' largest investment fund had nearly $38 billion in stocks and mutual funds at the end of 2019, according to a filing that sheds new light on the faith's finances.

The fund called Ensign Peak Advisors submitted a filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Feb. 14 disclosing its holdings, which include $1.5 billion each in Apple and Microsoft, the Salt Lake Tribune reported Saturday.

The church also owned $930 million in Google stock and $855 million in Amazon.

. . .

The filing does not include all the church's financial holdings and the church is not required to report investments in property or private companies. Ensign Peak Advisors is just one of the church's investment firms, said church historian D. Michael Quinn.


Read more: https://www.chron.com/news/us/article/Report-Mormon-church-investment-fund-had-nearly-15113642.php

[PSPS]

1. LOL. What a racket.

[paleotn]

10. Good work, if you can get it.

And have no morals or anything else resembling scruples.

[bucolic_frolic]

2. Tax-exempt

Mormon Church has misled members on $100 billion tax-exempt investment fund, whistleblower alleges

https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/mormon-church-has-misled-members-on-100-billion-tax-exempt-investment-fund-whistleblower-alleges/2019/12/16/e3619bd2-2004-11ea-86f3-3b5019d451db_story.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finances_of_The_Church_of_Jesus_Christ_of_Latter-day_Saints

The LDS Church has not publicly disclosed its financial statements in the United States since 1959.

Additional holdings

The following is a partial list of known assets known to be owned or controlled by the LDS Church:

AgReserves Inc. - the largest producer of nuts in the United States (circa. 1997)[1]
Beneficial Financial Group - An insurance and financial services company with assets of $3.1 billion.[43]
Bonneville International - the 14th largest radio chain in the U.S.[1]
Deseret News - a daily Utah newspaper, second-largest in the state of Utah.[44]
Farmland Reserve Inc. - 228,000 acres (923 km²) in Nebraska,;[45] 51,600 acres in Osage County, Oklahoma;[46]
Hawaii Reserves, Inc. - Miscellaneous church holdings in Hawaii. When combined with the Polynesian Cultural Center (the leading paid visitor attraction in Hawaii[47]) and Brigham Young University-Hawaii, LDS Church-related entities generated revenue of $260 million for the Hawaii economy in 2005.[48]

[Wellstone ruled]

5. Not to mention Farm

a tax exempt farming operation that feeds out several hundred thousand head of Cattle each year. And they run two of these mega feed lots,one in Florida and the other in Nebraska.

They control the largest amount of Grazing Leases in Utah and Nevada. Now you wonder why they appose the Herds of Wild Horses and Burro's here in the Southwest.

[madville]

4. Many universities have huge endowments also

Harvard has right at 41 Billion.

All endowments and most government and private pensions are invested in the stock market in order to sustain and hopefully grow.

[wishstar]

9. I don't give to my university that already has billions

and I don't donate to any charities that are supported by billionaires as I prefer making a difference with my modest donations helping local community nonprofits and a small liberal church in my neighborhood that provides good programs to help those in need.

[patphil]

6. As a religious institution I would think they would want to use that money to help people in need.

Maybe they're just trying to buy a staircase to heaven.
Yes, I know the Catholic Church is rich too. Same comments go for them.
Note: I was born and raised a Catholic. As an adult, I decided to cut out the middle man and go directly to God.
I never regretted it.

[Dem2theMax]

13. I hate to admit it, but in some cases they do.

To make a very long story as short as I can, my best friend is Mormon. We met a long time ago when we were in high school. She now lives in another state but we are always in touch.

She was married, had five children. She and her husband bought a house in the early 80s and it should have been paid off long ago. But they constantly refinanced the house to pay for things they didn't need. And then her husband died. And then she lost her job.

She was out visiting me, and casually mentioned that her mortgage was so high, and she was so fraught over how she was going to pay for it, that she turned to her church elders, and they took over the mortgage payment.

I think she said she owed well over $200,000, and the church is going to pay for it. They make the monthly mortgage payment, and it's my understanding they will do so until the house is paid off. I could easily see her taking out another mortgage on the house. I hope the church has some sort of control over that situation. Because she sure doesn't know how to handle money.

[patphil]

14. That's great!

I am sure they do a lot of good work, but 38 billion dollars says they could do a whole lot more.
They could do that 10 thousand times over and barely make a dent in that 38 billion.

A church with that much money shouldn't be tax exempt.
They're obviously a for-profit institution.
Just like the Catholic church.

[Dem2theMax]

15. I absolutely agree with you.

And honestly, it's not like my friend was destitute. I was really shocked to hear that she would allow her church to take on a financial burden that she and her husband created. A burden they didn't have to create. And she has five grown children who could have helped her.

She continues to be irresponsible with money. I have to bite my tongue when she tells me the things she does, let alone the things I see her doing in person.

There were other ways out of her financial situation. So I do think of people who are much worse off than her, who really could use that money even more.

When I think of the Catholic Church?

[GemState]

16. Her story isn't unusual

as people who live in Mormon Country know.

[Miigwech]

7. Bust em for all of the tax and welfare $$$ that have been siphoned into their coffers

[YOHABLO]

8. Organized religion is a racket. Those who participate are fools.

[BlueIdaho]

12. It's not a religion - it's a money laundering operation.

The LDS Church has handled the mafia’s Las Vegas cash since the beginning.

[sarcasmo]

17. Tax the church.

[jeffreyi]

18. Good picks, though...

So happy I get to contribute to their success! <sarcasm>