Clarke, Roger G and de Silva, Harindra and Thorley, Steven, Primer on Factor Exposures and Payoffs (September 29, 2017). Ensign Peak Advisors. The whistleblower complaint and related YouTube videos were also hot topics by Mormon and ex-Mormon communities on social media. Ensign Peak Advisors. Read the Wall Street Journal story. Last, the church concedes the whistleblower was accurate when stating their yearly gains were about 7%, which is the benchmark rule of thumb for most investment plans. This is no surprise, although I'd just note that if you've never looked at the Word of Wisdom, we covered their recent "Now You Know" video on the Word of Wisdom and you can see how silly the Word of Wisdom is not just in the actual revelation, but the implementation of it as well. 72, No. Back to the article: Church leaders may be right to worry that the financial revelations could have a negative impact on tithe paying. Imagine giving up a vacation because you needed to send those tithing checks in only to find out that the church earns about $24 million dollars per day in gains alone. Although the stories broke in 2019, the continued coverage and fallout was included among the top 25 religion stories of 2020 by the Religion News Association. Roger served as a professor for more than ten years on the faculty of the Marriott School of Management at Brigham Young University. Ensign Peak also has at least $1.3 billion in shares of oil and gas companies, even after dumping 44% of its stock in Exxon Mobil early in 2020. The document said it also had no nonexecutive directors or a board to which EPA had to report. Available at SSRN: If you need immediate assistance, call 877-SSRNHelp (877 777 6435) in the United States, or +1 212 448 2500 outside of the United States, 8:30AM to 6:00PM U.S. Eastern, Monday - Friday. Ensign Peak Advisors, the investment firm connected to the Church of Jesus Christ and Latter-Day Saints, started filing a quarterly 13F form on Feb. 14, 2010, with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which regulates publicly traded companies and other financial firms. More than 150 other stories followed in other media outlets. 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. While some may look at that as a good thing, I actually think it's another instance where we can see that the church is not only untrue, but not good either. According to several rounds of clashing court motions, the legal dispute between Huntsman and the church hinges on whether up to $2 billion transferred from Ensign Peak and ultimately used for the City Creek Center mall and an ailing insurance firm were drawn from sacred donations or, as church leaders maintain, investment earnings generated from that initial giving. Latter-day Saint officials acknowledged that it used Ensign funds to underwrite construction of City Creek Center mall in downtown Salt Lake City and rescue Beneficial Life, a church-owned insurance company, but said there was nothing illegal in that. 212.744.6825, Research Coordinator Isnt amassing wealth and then saving it the equivalent of burying talents, that Christ condemned in the biblical parable? Miner asked. In the document, he estimates that his former employer has evaded payments of more than $20 billion in taxes and concealed foreign accounts that should total $2 billion in penalties. Just as in the Gospel Topics essay on Joseph Smith's polygamy, they are using carefully worded denials when they know full well that they are purposefully misleading their members (and the public) at best. "God promises great blessings to those who pay tithing. Keywords: Portfolio Theory, Factor Portfolios, Factor Investing, Portfolio Constraints, Smart Beta, Suggested Citation: "Ensign Peak adjusted its approach and began filing a single aggregated report. See all articles by Roger G Clarke Roger G Clarke. This was approximately $2 billion to fund classic private interests., Senate Finance Committee - by Paul Glader. That lines up with the information outlined from the 2009 release, and it also lines up with the church's announcement last year at General Conference that that have given $2 billion over 34 years through this fund. The statement here by the church is a flat out lie, and as a member of record I beg any church leader to explain to me how this is not as damning towards their honesty as it appears to be. Steven Thorley is an Emeritus Professor of Finance at the Marriott School of Business. The Not-So-Well-Known Three-and-One-Half Factor Model. We can also intentionally deceive others by a gesture or a look, by silence, or by telling only part of the truth. Nobody knows when, Clarke told the newspaper. According to its first 2020 report to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, filed months after allegations by whistleblower. By clicking Sign up, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider By 2003, Ensign Peaks assets had grown, according to court documents, though the church isnt publicly saying by how much. Roger served as a professor for more than ten years on the faculty of the Marriott School of Management at Brigham Young University. 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. From the church's manual on honesty: "When we speak untruths, we are guilty of lying. Harindra De Silva. Editors note This story is available to Salt Lake Tribune subscribers only. Get Contact Info for All Departments Ensign Peak Advisors Org Chart 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. Harindra De Silva. Foreign accounts: EPA now admits having foreign accounts, after denying it under oath for 10+ years: Mr. Nielsens prior submissions demonstrated that EPA has falsely denied under oath each year since at least 2007 that EPA has long had foreign bank and investment accounts, estimated to exceed $9 billion and thus EPA is liable for FBAR (Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts) penalties of more than $2 billion. The 2019 stories inReligionUnplugged.comandother outletsrocked both the investment world and the religion world, gaining hundreds of thousands of page views as readers were intrigued by the revelation of previously hidden church finances. Jenna Ayala Ensign Peak Advisors' articles of incorporation confirm Ensign Peak is an arm of the Church of Jesus . EPA has always had billions in assets since its formation in 1997. We can prove that over and over again whether it's looking at DNA and the Book of Mormon, the Book of Abraham, or how Joseph Smith retrofitted the priesthood restoration or First Vision to establish authority. Please email us anytime at ldsdiscussion@gmail.com if you would like more resources to learn about these issues or if you are looking for people that you can safely talk to as you continue your faith journey. At some point, saving needs to be converted into good works and charitable giving.. [5] History [ edit] Steven Thorley See all articles by Roger G Clarke Roger G Clarke. If Jesus does come back, I can't wait to see his reaction when the leaders of the church that claims to speak exclusively for him explain that they hoarded all of the cash they could instead of helping the very people they are commanded to help in the very Bible they (incorrectly) use as justification for collecting tithing from their members in the first place. Reports reveal the big stakes in tech are part of a vast hands-on market strategy by Ensign Peak, with upward of 1,850 different stocks at times, spread across virtually every part of the U.S. economy and abroad. You can Google patriarchal blessings about seeing Jesus before you die and read them, which is yet another example of why this church has no more connection to the divine (or revelation/discernment) than anyone else. About $3 billion of that came from combined shares of Apple and Microsoft, accounting for 7% of the funds total value. Analytic Investors, Inc. Steven Thorley. Thank you for supporting local journalism. 323.244.1154. It's very similar to polls regarding impeachment - the more loyal you were to Donald Trump, the less likely you were to want witnesses or documents to be produced. Put another way, the man who claims to be the lone prophet of God on this Earth is telling people in the poorest areas of the Earth that without giving the church (worth $124 billion in this one investment fund alone) 10% of their income they not only will never get out of poverty, but they will be denied exaltation for eternity. But there is a time, she told The Tribune on Saturday, to use resources to help and lift people. . Ensign Peak and the Church have cooperated with the government over a period of time as we sought resolution." Tax avoidance: Nielsens document claims EPA has not disputed his original allegations that 1) EPA engaged in no religious, charitable or educational activities in the entire relevant period, 1997-2019, and 2) EPAs only distributions over 22 years were for the for-profit operations of an insurance company and a luxury shopping mall. 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. View Roger G Clark's profile for company associations, background information, and partnerships. Analytic Investors, Inc. Steven Thorley. A federal judge recently tossed out the lawsuit, but Huntsmans lawyers plan to appeal. If we truly believe that the world is going to fall into chaos before the second coming of Christ, does the church really believe that stocks and bonds are going to hold value then? Harindra De Silva. "In June 2019, the SEC first expressed concern about Ensign Peak's reporting approach," LDS said in a statement on Tuesday. Hes on Twitter @PaulGlader. Shortly afterward, Ensign Peak sold it all, judging from its absence in recent reports. It's the same reason that many believing members refuse to read anything that questions the church, which for many includes church sources and even the Gospel Topics essays. Penske Automotive Group, for example, released its quarterly earnings on Nov. 21, 2020, andnoted in its press release that, among institutional and hedge fund investors, Ensign Peak Advisors increased its stake in Penske by 2,651% and now owns 181,578 shares of Penskes stock, valued at $7 million. I don't really know what more to say here, because Carolyn is actually doing something more in line with what the Bible teaches about helping those in need than the church that claims to speak for God. The head of EPA, Roger Clarke, indicated to the Journal that EPA is a . And those companies might consider it an honor when a morally and financially scrutinizing investor such as EPA buys shares. Ensign Peak Advisors. . Locations . The church doesnt dispute that payments made to City Creek came from Ensign Peak. As we usually close out these posts, I want to mention how difficult it is to take in this new information and changes in policies, and we understand how painful it is to process. Whenever we lead people in any way to believe something that is not true, we are not being honest.". "That same poverty continues from one generation to another, until people pay their tithing." That result also would encourage fraudulent claims of exempt status and weaken tax administration within the tax-exempt sector generally, and within non-exempt religious organizations in particular.. ReligionUnplugged.com reporters also made similar calls and sent emails to leaders of Ensign Peak Advisors and to the media relations office of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City. Analytic Investors, Inc. Steven Thorley. Ensign Peak Advisors ( email) 60 East South Temple 4th Floor Salt Lake City, UT 84111 United States. Editors note James Huntsman is a brother of Paul Huntsman, chairman of the nonprofit Salt Lake Tribunes board of directors. 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." Latter-day Saints, like many Christians, believe there will be a period of war, hardship and natural disasters before Jesus comes back. It had a $1.5 million stake in sports apparel maker Lululemon in early spring of 2019, but managers had drawn that down to $2,000 by the start of 2021. We include specific empirical results that can be replicated as an exercise in data collection, programming, reporting, and analysis. And yet somehow they don't need to set up shell companies to hide it from the government or their family. The filings do not include all the churchs financial holdings, such as bonds, and the church isnt required to disclose its holdings in property or private companies. The church literally created over a dozen shell companies to hide their finances, so please forgive me if I don't believe the church's prophets when they declare the church complies with all applicable law governing our donations, investments, taxes and reserves. Roger Clarke, head of Ensign Peak (Wall Street Journal): "So they never wanted to be in a position where people felt like, you know, they shouldn't make a contribution". Analytic Investors, Inc. Steven Thorley. Instead we have talk after talk demonizing those with doubts, telling the poor that only tithing can get them out of the poverty cycle, and that they are as transparent as they know how to be. Roger Clarke, the head of Ensign Peak, said: 'Paying tithing is more of a sense of commitment than it is the church needing the money' Clarke and other officials say the money is saved. As for the idea that the $124 billion is for the years leading up to Jesus' return, I also think that is a ridiculous notion. It reported owning $27.8 million in shares in an index fund focused on companies in South Korea in late 2019, a stake that rose to $30.4 million by the end of last year. Top editors give you the stories you want delivered right to your inbox each weekday. Clarke, Roger G and de Silva, Harindra and Thorley, Steven, Fundamentals of Efficient Factor Investing (October 11, 2016). David Nielsen explains in his new document to the Senate Finance Committee that he was a lifelong member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a person whose family was part of the church since the mid-1800s, who graduated from Brigham Young University and who served as a missionary for the church for two years in Brazil. That should not surprise anyone considering the way they do accounting of these donations. Financial Analysts Journal, Vol. For example, a combination of four fully invested factor sub-portfolios low beta, small size, value, and momentum captures less than half (e.g., 40%) of the potential improvement over the market portfolios Sharpe ratio. Ensign Peak Advisors, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints multibillion-dollar investment fund, has gone from operating nearly incognito 19 months ago to facing an uncomfortably hot spotlight. Whether you're a believing member or have left the church, the only thing I can say is that if you want to continue tithing, follow the Bible and use the money to help those around you whether it's a children's program, a local animal shelter (always a favorite of mine), or a food pantry. Roger Clarke, the head of Ensign Peak, told the Wall Street Journal that the fund was an emergency account to be used in difficult times. This week, Roger Clarke, the head of Ensign, told WSJ, 'Paying tithing is more of a sense of commitment than it is the church needing the money.' 'So they never wanted to be in a position. The new document alleges several new violations by EPA and its leaders. Carolyn Homer, a Latter-day Saint who lives in Virginia, told The Journal that after she heard about the money held by Ensign Peak, she resolved to tithe less and give more to other charities. And as we're learning more and more each day, they are right to fear that, because if you're willing to approach their history and practices in the way you approach any other organization, product, or belief, you will realize that not only is the church demonstrably false, but it's actually not very good, either. He wrote that it avoided having a compliance officer between 1997 and 2015. We adapt traditional portfolio theory to more recently popularized factor-based investing and simulate optimal combinations of factor and security portfolios, using the largest 1,000 common stocks in the US equity market from 1968 to 2015. He has reported from dozens of countries for outlets ranging from The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Der Spiegel Online and others. Wells Fargo Asset Management (WFAM) Analytic Investors. Clarke told the Journal, We dont have any idea whether financial assets will have any value at all during a second coming. And now that the church has now been caught doing so, their excuse is that it was to "protect them [active members of the church] from mismanaging their own funds with insufficient information?" Ensign Peak Advisors ( email) 60 East South Temple 4th Floor Salt Lake City, UT 84111 United States. Ensign Peak is a huge investor in iconic technology stocks. But, the paper reported, they gave estimates for its main areas of expenditure that, collectively, total about $5 billion. It shows up increasingly in reports and press releases from those publicly traded companies. In criminal conduct, EPA has engaged in a Klein conspiracy to defraud the IRS by pretending to be tax-exempt while concealing and falsifying the facts of its massive securities investment business, the document states. The fund relies on a healthy share of so-called real estate investment trusts (REIT), which package landholdings into shares for sale. Cookie Settings. From 1995-2020 he served as president of Ensign Peak Advisors, Inc., an investment management affiliate of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Harindra De Silva. Court documents submitted in California by the churchs attorneys say the fund has been around since 1997, seeded initially by excess tithing funds to create a rainy day account. We have not seen the actual document in question; however, it appears they are dated allegations. . . The new document updates, reframes and renews allegations about Ensign Peak Advisors and the Latter-day Saints church. as well as other partner offers and accept our, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our. To learn more, visit Other former employees said the firms war chest related to preparation for the second coming of Jesus Christ. 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