For at least 22 years, EPA and certain senior executives have perpetrated an unlawful scheme that relies on willfully and materially false statements to the IRS and the SEC, so this for-profit, securities investment business that unfairly competes with large hedge funds can masquerade as a tax-exempt, charitable organization, the memorandum says. If you're reading this post, you have almost certainly heard of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints holding an investment fund worth around $124 billion dollars called Ensign Peak in recent weeks. Downloads 496 (82,744) Although Mr. Nielsen could have earned significantly more working for a traditional hedge fund, Mr. Nielsen accepted EPAs offer because he believed at that time that EPA actually supported the Churchs religious and charitable activities, the document states. But when Clarke says the gains are "mainly from returns on existing investments," he is being careful not to say that those "existing investments" were made with tithing money. The Mormon Church's investments weren't publicly disclosed until a former Ensign portfolio manager filed a whistleblower complaint in 2019, alleging that the massive fund doesn't engage in any charitable activities and shouldn't have tax-exempt status. The head of EPA, Roger Clarke, indicated to the Journal that EPA is a "rainy-day account to be used in difficult economic times." Some church leaders suggested the fund could be used in the . Given the popularity of factor investing, also known as rules-based, smart beta, or simply quantitative portfolio management, a number of students and traditional equity analysts have asked for a primer to introduce basic terms, concepts, and calculation procedures. To give a better overview of this topic, we're going to refer to the Salt Lake Tribune's coverage of the recent Wall Street Journal article by Peggy Fletcher Stack, because it covers some of the quotes from Mormon leaders along with Ensign Peak about the fund without getting as deep into the weeds as the WSJ article does. The church contends this is not illegal and I am not a legal expert, but I can say it looks awful when a church uses a tithing investment fund to bail out its for profit ventures yet has never spent a dime to help those who truly need it. "This settlement relates to how the forms were filed previously. By 2003, Ensign Peaks assets had grown, according to court documents, though the church isnt publicly saying by how much. For the original stories in December of 2019,ReligionUnplugged.comreceived awards from Religion News Association and TheSociety for Advancing Business Editing and Writing and was a finalist foran EPPY Award for best business reporting from Editor & Publisher. Over many years, a portion is methodically safeguarded through wise financial management and the building of a prudent reserve for the future., The Wall Street Journal, which didnt cover the story until February 2020,made a unique contributionby visiting Salt Lake City and interviewing leaders of EPA and the church who confirmed the previous reporting ofReligionUnpluggedandthe Post. As Deuteronomy 14:28-29 makes clear, the church is supposed to use the tithes collected to actually help those in need: 28 At the end of every three years, bring all the tithes of that years produce and store it in your towns, 29 so that the Levites (who have no allotment or inheritance of their own) and the foreigners, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns may come and eat and be satisfied, and so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.". . Neilsen's complaint claims Ensign president Roger Clarke has said the fund would be used should the second coming of Christ occur, while the Post reported that high-ranking cleric Bishop. EPAs change in approach is an admission by conduct that its more than 260 fraudulent SEC filings were improper and were acts in furtherance of a Klein conspiracy to defraud the IRS, by concealing its massive securities investment business, the document reads. Shortly afterward, Ensign Peak sold it all, judging from its absence in recent reports. Leaders of EPA declined to comment in the original stories at ReligionUnplugged.com. A former employee of a $100 billion investment fund owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has submitted a memorandum to the U.S. Senate Finance Committee and its subcommittee on taxation and IRS oversight about the operations of the Salt Lake City-based Ensign Peak Advisors Inc. Search our database of over 100 million company and executive profiles. Harindra de Silva. Huntsmans lawsuit was thrown out in September of 2021. Now he has a podcast about it. I feel terrible for the members who have been contributing their entire lives only to find out that not only did the church not need the money, but that they aren't even using it to help those in need. As of June, the funds shares in five Big Tech companies Apple, Microsoft, Google, Amazon and Facebook were worth nearly $9 billion, or 18% of its total value. BYU Marriott School of Business. As we tend to do, we'll go through it in chunks to cover what the church is saying along with what they're not saying. Ensign Peak, which manages $124 billion in investments cultivated from tithing funds, is admitting that the church doesn't tell its members about the fund because they know members aren't going to keep paying tithing if they knew the church is sitting on so much money that they could cover every administrative cost for the church with the yearly gains and still have billions left over in gains each year to grow the account. And do not forget that Prophet Joseph F Smith said this about tithing at the 1907 General Conference: "Furthermore, I want to say to you, we may not be able to reach it right away, but we expect to see the day when we will not have to ask you for one dollar of donation for any purpose, except that which you volunteer to give of your own accord, because we will have tithes sufficient in the storehouse of the Lord to pay everything that is needful for the advancement of the kingdom of God." BYU Marriott School of Business. It has shifted since mid-2020 into stocks in basic industries and capital goods that might expect to take off in an economic recovery. Ensign Peak Advisors employs 11 employees. Some companies like to show when large and established institutional investors are taking positions in their company, considering that a vote of confidence in the company. SEC filings and online finance sites show that EPA still has large stock ownership positions totaling billions of dollars in major companies such as Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp., Amazon.com Inc. and Alphabet Inc. A prominent former Latter-day Saint, James Huntsman, filed a federal lawsuit against the church, seeking to regain more than $5 million in tithing he gave the church over 25 years. Julia Miner, a retired tax attorney in the San Francisco Bay Area, is proud of her conservative Mormon tradition of frugality. Roger served as a professor for more than ten years on the faculty of the Marriott School of Management at Brigham Young University. This page was processed by aws-apollo-l2 in 0.084 seconds, Using these links will ensure access to this page indefinitely. There are families that are struggling and continue to pay tithing because they were taught that the church needs it more than they do (and that the prosperity gospel will reward them with blessings to make up for it), and yet church leaders have been lying to every one of these families about the church's own means. From the church's manual on honesty: "When we speak untruths, we are guilty of lying. So they never wanted to be in a position where . Counselor says: March 19, 2022 at 9:10 pm. Other former employees said the firms war chest related to preparation for the second coming of Jesus Christ. Its initial filing revealed EPA had $38 billion in stocks and mutual fundsat the end of 2019, including $1.5 billion in Apple and Microsoft. Ensign Peak and the Church have cooperated with the government over a period of time as we sought resolution." I will never claim to speak for Jesus, but it's beyond clear that the leaders of this church never have either whether it's claiming God called the Native Americans Lamanites from Israel, that dark skin is a curse from God, or that God changed his mind in just 3.5 years on treating LGBT members as apostates. That was in keeping, they said, with then-church President Gordon B. Hinckleys declaration that the faith had a compelling responsibility to protect the environment of the Salt Lake Temple and that it was imperative to do something to revitalize this area.. If $124 billion in an investment portfolio is not enough, why not share with members what they've accomplished and let them know what the goal is if the church is truly as 'transparent as they know how to be.' Latter-day Saints, like many Christians, believe there will be a period of war, hardship and natural disasters before Jesus comes back. No organization that truly exists to help every child of God would create over a dozen shell companies to make sure the world can never find out what they have, and no organization that tells you that you will be eternally separated from your family unless you keep giving 10% to them is worth your devotion. Financial Analysts Journal, Vol. There are many reasons that the church is losing more members today than they have since Kirtland according to church historian Elder Marlin K. Jensen, but one of the biggest is that even in the year 2020 and in the age of Google, they still refuse to be honest and open with their members. Suggested Citation, 60 East South Temple4th FloorSalt Lake City, UT 84111United States, 555 West 5th Street50th FloorLos Angeles, CA 90013United States213-688-3015 (Phone)213-688-8856 (Fax), 616 TNRBBrigham Young UniversityProvo, UT 84602United States801-378-6065 (Phone)801-378-5984 (Fax), Subscribe to this fee journal for more curated articles on this topic, Finance Educator: Courses, Cases & Teaching eJournal, S&P Global Market Intelligence Research Paper Series, Subscribe to this free journal for more curated articles on this topic, We use cookies to help provide and enhance our service and tailor content. And on to the article: "Latter-day Saint officials kept the size of the churchs $100 billion investment reserves secret for fear that public knowledge of the funds wealth might discourage members from paying tithing, according to the top executive who oversees the account. I mean it's just so nonsensical that I can't believe they even try that line of thinking, but when you're caught with your hand in the cookie jar you say whatever you can to get out of the situation. 1907, 7) To support that, he offered a freshly sworn statement by David Nielsen in which the whistleblower says that for officials at Ensign Peak every penny was referred to as the widows mite a biblical allusion to its sacred nature.