https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ne...no-longer-tithe.html

Officials of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints kept the amount of their $100billion investment reserves a secret in case public knowledge of their massive wealth might discourage members from tithing.

The Wall Street Journal reports that word of the Mormon Church's stockpile came after a whistleblower complained to the Internal Revenue Service that the fund, named Ensign Peak Advisors, had collected billions.

'Paying tithing is more of a sense of commitment than it is the church needing the money,' Roger Clarke, the head of Ensign Peak said.

'So they never wanted to be in a position where people felt like, you know, they shouldn’t make a contribution.'

Officials admit that the fund's total size is a kept tightly under wrap since Ensign Peak depends on tithing from it's 16million followers worldwide.

Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints must pay 10 percent of their income each year.

The firm was founded in the 1960s during financial hardships, but transformed under Clarke's guidance to bring 'the investment department into the 20th Century.'

Ensign Peak Advisors' assets reportedly total between $80billion and $100billion in 2019, eclipsing Harvard University’s endowment at around $40billion.

Officials declined to disclose the church's annual budget or how much is given to Ensign Peak, but the estimate for the main areas of expenditure equal to around $5billion.

Holdings are said to include $40billion in U.S. stock, investment in prominent hedge funds like Bridgewater Associates LP and timberland in the Florida panhandle, according to current and former employees.

Despite the church's expansive outreach, they are not obligated to publicly report their finances or tell members.

However, David Nielsen's whistleblower report has mounted pressure for the church to adopt an air of transparency - something it hasn't done in decades.

Nielsen's report alleged Ensign Peak made no charitable donations despite being considered a tax-exempt charity.

He also said the firm illegally used tax-exempt donations to bail out two failed business ventures during the recession, specifically a life insurance company and construction of the City Creek Center.

Officials have denied any wrongdoing, with presiding Bishop Gerald Causse saying: 'It’s not an expenditure. Tomorrow we can sell it and it will come back with a return.'

Apart from public reporting, the church does not tell business partners how much money they and Ensign Peak employees sign lifetime confidentiality agreements.

Former employees say current staff are not longer privy to the firm's total assets and hardly know what the money is intended for.

'We’ve tried to be somewhat anonymous,' said Clarke.

A former employee said at occasional lunch meetings between Ensign Peak and the ecclesiastical arm, questions regarding the money's purpose would be brought up.

It was so amorphous,' the employee said.

'It was always, "When we have direction from the prophet." Everyone was waiting, as it were, for direction from God,' they added.

According to Clarke, the $100billion savings is meant to be used during tough financial times.

As the church continues to find followers across the globe in places like Africa, where members aren't able to donate as much, Ensign Peak's finances can help continue basic operations.

As Christopher Waddell, a member of the ecclesiastical section that oversees the firm as the bishopric, said: 'We don’t know when the next 2008 is going to take place.'

During the Great Recession, officials say they didn't touch any of the reserve money and instead cut their budget.

The Nielsen said he heard Clarke say the second coming of Jesus Christ, which Mormon's believe will be preceded by disasters, as another reason for Ensign Peak's existence.

Clarke says they must have misunderstood his meaning, saying: 'We believe at some point the savior will return. Nobody knows when.'

'We don’t have any idea whether financial assets will have any value at all. The issue is what happens before that, not at the second coming,' he added.

Donations from members are able to cover the church's budget, allowing any surplus investments to be placed in Ensign Peak.

Another official said the church doesn't publicly reveal their assets because 'these funds are sacred' and 'we don’t flaunt them for public review and critique.'
David Nielsen (pictured) complained about the Ensign Peak to the IRS in a whistleblower report
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The majority of Ensign Peak's money comes from returns on existing investments, not member donations, Clarke said.

In recent years, the fund has gained 7 percent annually and from 2012 to 2014, the fund grew from around $40billion to $60billion.

Clarke says Ensign Peak does not borrow money, invest in industries that Mormons oppose -like alcohol, caffeine, and gambling - and warns members about going into debt.

The church also created an intricate system of more than a dozen shell companies o make stock investments harder to track.

This was done so church members couldn't mimic what Ensign Peak was doing in an effort to protect them from mismanaging their own funds with misleading information.

Neuburgh Advisers LLC, one of the said shell companies, held hundreds of stocks in companies like Apple Inc. and Amazon.com Inc.

Members have begun to question the church on finances, including why it was kept a secret for so long, where the money goes and if tithing should be still be practiced.

Carolyn Homer, a member in Virginia, chose to tithe less and give more to other charities after learning of Ensign Peak.

In the Book of Mormon, God denounces churches that value wealth above helping the poor.

She said: 'When I hear members of the church say, "It’s none of your business how wealthy we are,’" that to me is echoing the very scripture we revere, and not in a good way.'

Since the Nielsen's complaint, members have been divided on tithing and how the church handles finances.

Lasi Kioa, a 61-year-old immigrant from Tonga and a lifelong church member, told WSJ: 'They use it well. They help other people. They build the church. I believe in that.'

Member Sam Brunson, a tax law professor at Loyola University, would like to see the church use the $100billion to help the needy.

'They could go a good way to eradicating malaria, or fix Puerto Rico’s electrical grid,' he said, adding that the church could possibly change the way they approach tithing and have members donate to charity instead.

Tax lawyers have debated whether Ensign Peak violated any laws as Nielsen claims, but Brunson doesn't think so.

Despite it being frustrating, he says the church's actions are legal.

He said: 'I’m a stakeholder in the church, and society has some stake in the church too. Even though I’m willing to tithe blindly, I would like to see what’s happening with that money.'

Doesn’t their book say something about nothing good is done in secret? Guess they don’t practice what they preach.

Being a non-Mormon, I honestly couldn't care less.

quote:

Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:
Being a non-Mormon, I honestly couldn't care less.

If money didn’t equate to power, I’d feel the same.

I suspect all the larger churches do the same thing.

Clearly the church needs to step up the size of donations. To keep them in scale with the endowment. Get a few billionaires into the fold, surrendering 10% of their net worth every year ...

They ain't got nothing on the Catholics. Those are rookie numbers compared to the Vatican.

quote:

Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:
Being a non-Mormon, I honestly couldn't care less.

Being a Latter-day Saint, I honestly couldn't care less.

It would have an affect on how benevolent I felt if I knew that what I considered significant would be much less than a drop in the bucket.

quote:

Originally posted by PorterN:

quote:

Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:
Being a non-Mormon, I honestly couldn't care less.

Being a Latter-day Saint, I honestly couldn't care less.

Yeah... how dare they be good at investing and saving money. It would be way better if they were in the red

https://www.ksl.com/article/46...yee-in-irs-complaint
FWIW, a few years ago, I was shown the pay scale for senior church leadership. I was surprised how low it was compared to other non-profit organizations pay scales that I have seen. It was well below the private sector and even many state government jobs.

Now I know how the Mormons can continue building ugly mega churches all over the place.

How do you think they're gonna afford to build the Nauvoo?

quote:

Originally posted by bigwagon:
They ain't got nothing on the Catholics. Those are rookie numbers compared to the Vatican.

quote:

Originally posted by AllenInWV:
How do you think they're gonna afford to build the Nauvoo?

So many little things make that show EPIC, the LDSS Nauvoo included.

If they have 16 million people donating 10% of their income every year and they only have $100 billion, they need to find some better money managers.

quote:

Originally posted by AllenInWV:
How do you think they're gonna afford to build the Nauvoo?

That should cover the cost of magic underwear too.

The Mormons I know don't seem to care. They have faith in their leadership and feel their donations are well spent for their communities. Its their business.

As I understand this article ( and the one that ran today in the WSJ) the LDS underspent their tithings, ran their operations on less than current receipts and invested the difference.

Their investing has done well, and they haven't gone on a spree and blown the investment gains.

My take is, that's good investing and proper fiduciary activity. Good for them!

RE: keeping the number under wraps. Probably good strategy, given the likely effect on human nature. It's going to be harder to get people to donate when they will be mentally comparing the drops they are supposed to be tithing to the big bucket that money will go into.

quote:

Originally posted by 1KPerDay:

quote:

Originally posted by PorterN:

quote:

Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:
Being a non-Mormon, I honestly couldn't care less.

Being a Latter-day Saint, I honestly couldn't care less.

Yeah... how dare they be good at investing and saving money. It would be way better if they were in the red

Indeed. Perhaps, and without knowing the details we can't be certain, but perhaps the church may need to consider increasing their charitable donations, but it seems to me that the Mormon leadership was fiscally conservative, kept their operating costs low and invested wisely, and kept a large sum in reserve... essentially practicing what they teach. As long as no one involved with the fund was embezzling money for personal enrichment it doesn't concern me in the least that they have the money or how they spend it.

Hell, there are some elected leaders, government employees and government pension fund board members that could learn a thing or two from the Mormons. Maybe we need more of them in Congress to manage the U.S. budget.

The concern I have is, now that news of the fund size has broken, I'd be willing to bet there will be some politicians eyeing that nugget and scheming up laws or punitive actions to chisel their portion while implementing wealth redistribution...if not now, then under a future administration.