Ensign Peak dumped ~9% of its US stocks in Q4 2025, shedding ~$5.6 billion.
Possible explanations: (1) Portfolio strategy, (2) Opacity, (3) Unknown Church need.
Net of stock sales, the fund gained 2.3% in Q4, lagging the S&P 500 return of 2.6% (including dividends).
thewidowsmite.org/ep2025q4/
2025 Widow's Mite Report
* ~$231B in LDS Church investment reserves, nearly a quarter trillion.
* ~$320B total assets (~72% of Church assets are financial investments).
* Charts & data: inflows/outflows, temple backlog, 5-year trends, endowment math.
thewidowsmite.org/2025update
For 2026, we estimate the average LDS General Authority receives ~$200k in direct equivalent taxable compensation, in addition to retirement and healthcare benefits.
This is ~85% above the median UT household income and ~2x higher than the average Church employee salary.
thewidowsmite.org/comp/
Ensign Peak sold $2.1 billion of US stocks during q3. Returns matched those of the S&P 500 for the quarter.
thewidowsmite.org/ep2025q3/
The LDS Church allocated $1.2B in 2024 to the BYU system, subsidizing tuition for students. Amounts to a ~$119k 4yr scholarship (~82% subsidy) for all member students at BYU Provo.
Updated BYU system financials, with simplified analysis and data through 2024:
thewidowsmite.org/byu-tuition/
LDS tithing participation rates through 2024. Based on published financial data in 5 countries with ~4% of global membership. 2016 (25.1%) --> 2024 (20.8%)
thewidowsmite.org/tithing-part...
Q&A on the new Widow's Mite Report tax study. Evidence strongly indicates Ensign Peak engaged in systematic tax evasion by failing to report $200-450 million in taxable income from publicly traded partnerships over 2003-2017.
www.reddit.com/r/mormon/com...
Our analysis of Ensign Peak’s publicly traded partnership investments as reported in IRS 990-T & SEC 13F uncovered strong evidence of systematic underreporting of unrelated business taxable income, which continued until the firm received critical public attention.
thewidowsmite.org/epa-tax
Ensign Peak Q1 2025 Summary
$52.3B U.S. securities held at quarter-end. Total return -4.8% vs S&P500 -4.3%. Net seller of ~$1.1B of stocks in the quarter.
thewidowsmite.org/ep2025q1
2014 in the second chart should be 2024. That’s been corrected.
What the data says about LDS membership migration in the U.S.
Shifts in membership, activity, ward sizes, w/ global context.
Data implies 3.8-5.4 global active LDS, consistent w/ other datasets. ~50% of those are in the U.S., of which ~50% live in UT & ID.
thewidowsmite.org/usa-trends/
Breakdown of 2024 LDS charitable expenditures of $1.45 billion, along with trended data on giving, humanitarian projects, Giving Machines, volunteerism, and other key metrics.
thewidowsmite.org/caring-2024
Ensign Peak 2024 summary.
$56.3B US stocks. ~$206B estimated total investments. The fund was a net seller of ~$4.7B of US stocks in 2024.
Alpha of -8% vs the market over 5 years.
DMBA owns 5 "sin stocks" not held by Ensign Peak.
thewidowsmite.org/ep2024q4/
In early 2024, we first pointed out Ensign Peak's extensive holdings in 26 "war & weapons" stocks. Since then, EP has substantially reduced its holdings of those stocks each quarter. Its combined stake in "war & weapons" is down by roughly half as of Q3 2024.
thewidowsmite.org/sinstocks
2024 Widow's Mite Report is out.
LDS Church investment funds now >$200 billion.
Updates on Church wealth, cash flows, charity, temples. Examination of common misconceptions about finances of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
thewidowsmite.org/2024update/
BYU system financials updated through filing year 2023.
Tithing subsidy from the LDS Church consumes roughly 18% of the LDS Church's operating budget and offsets 80% of tuition at BYU Provo, equal to a 4-year $96,000 scholarship for every student.
thewidowsmite.org/byu-tuition/
For 2025, we estimate $183k taxable-equivalent salary for LDS General Authorities (senior clergy).
- 85% above the median UT household income
- 2x higher than the average Church employee
Church employment rose ~3% in '22 & ~4% in '23. 2024 data TBD.
thewidowsmite.org/comp/
Financial data indicates an overall stable global LDS activity rate in 2023 vs 2022
Based on filings in 5 countries, which are all now available online through 2023.
Data covers ~4% of global membership.
thewidowsmite.org/tithing-part...
Updated with a sharable link:
9 Common Misconceptions About the Settlement Between the U.S. SEC and Ensign Peak/LDS Church
7 common misconceptions about the settlement between the SEC and Ensign Peak/the LDS Church
www.reddit.com/r/mormon/s/z...
Ensign Peak ended Q3'24 with $56.9B US stocks. Returns matched S&P500 in Q3. Sold $0.9B stocks (net); 2023-24 net sales ~$6B.
EPA has lagged the index by ~1%/yr since 2019, implies ~$3B lost through active management.
Estimated total investments are now $185-210B.
thewidowsmite.org/ep2024q3/
