A spring updraft in U.S. stock markets has helped add a near-record $6 billion in one quarter to the immense portfolio of U.S. stocks, bonds and mutual funds managed for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, reversing recent losses.
New disclosures from the faith’s investment arm, Salt Lake City-based Ensign Peak Advisors, to federal regulators — for April, May and June — reveal its account has all but doubled in value since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020. It now holds $58.4 billion and includes nearly $4 billion in an artificial intelligence giant.
That’s the most showing up in the account since 2019, when Ensign Peak first began reporting the once-secret portfolio’s size and holdings to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Back then, it was valued at $37.8 billion.
The latest quarterly gain is also the portfolio’s second-largest three-month jump since a dramatic rebound in April-June 2020, when it vaulted by $6.9 billion in one quarter.
Wider U.S. markets saw double-digit increases in this year’s second quarter as well after big declines and volatility amid President Donald Trump’s tariff proposals.
Where does Ensign Peak’s portfolio stand now compared to previous quarters?
The account holds about 95.6% more in dollar terms than it did when the COVID-19 pandemic first reached U.S. shores. It plunged by a quarterly record of $8 billion in early 2020, falling to $29.8 billion.
Though reflective of wider market swings, analysis shows Ensign Peak has been a net seller of stocks for the past six quarters and for 12 of the past 18 quarters.
As much as $1.6 billion has been sold from the account in a single quarter.
The fund currently holds shares in 1,697 investments, including stocks, bonds, real estate trusts, index funds and other equities. That spread was as high as 2,308 holdings in mid-2022.
How does this portfolio feature in the church’s overall wealth?
Ensign Peak’s fund marks only a part of the Utah-based faith’s overall wealth in investments, operating businesses and landholdings.
They represent only U.S. equities it holds directly and only those they are required to report to regulators.
In-depth analysis indicates Ensign Peak and a host of third-party funds manage total investments on behalf of the worldwide church of 17.5 million members worth about $206 billion as of the end of last year.
That‘s according to The Widow’s Mite Report, a website devoted to detailing the faith’s finances through public documents. It has estimated the church’s overall wealth at about $293 billion at the close of 2024, up $28 billion from the previous year.
Another $86 billion or so of that wealth was from its operating assets, including its ecclesiastical buildings, welfare farms, Brigham Young University-related operations and other landholdings.
How did Ensign Peak perform compared to the S&P 500?
The S&P 500 rose 10.9% in the second quarter, while Ensign Peak, which analysis shows closely tracks that index, was up 11.75%, according to the latest reports.
Widow’s Mite has shown, however, that Ensign Peak’s U.S. stock holdings actually have lagged significantly behind the market over the years as a result of its trading strategies.
What are its latest top holdings?
Since its first public report to the SEC, Ensign Peak’s portfolio has been dominated by big technology stocks. Sometimes these are now referred to as “the Magnificent Seven” — Apple, Amazon, Meta (formerly Facebook), Alphabet (Google), Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla.
Its stake in chipmaker Nvidia has been rising steadily with that company’s dominance in technology supporting A.I. advances — and it’s now the portfolio’s top holding, with shares worth a total $3.9 billion.
The next biggest stakes overall are Microsoft, $3.5 billion; Apple, $2.5 billion; and Meta, $2.2 billion. Between two types of Google shares, it owns $1.8 billion in Alphabet.
The tech stock Broadcom is its next largest holding by value, at $1.1 billion, followed by financial giant JP Morgan, at $1 billion.
Tesla comes in at $669.6 million.
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