The Widow's Mite Report

Ensign Peak dumped ~9% of its US stocks in Q4 2025, shedding ~$5.6B. Possible reasons: (1) Portfolio strategy, (2) Opacity, (3) Unknown Church need. Net of stock sales, EP 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…

What questions do you have about Church finances? reddit.com/r/mormon/s/g5Dx4t…

For 2026, we estimate the average LDS General Authority receives ~$200k in direct equivalent taxable compensation, plus retirement & health 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 financial analysis and data here: thewidowsmite.org/byu-tuitio…

LDS tithing participation rates through 2024. Based on published financial data in 5 countries, ~4% of global membership. 2016: 25.1% 2024: 20.8% thewidowsmite.org/tithing-pa…

EP Q2 2025 US stock portfolio update. Net buying of stocks resumed after selling for 2+ years. Continued underperformance vs the index. thewidowsmite.org/ep2025q2/

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. reddit.com/r/mormon/comments…

Our analysis of Ensign Peak’s publicly traded partnership investments, as disclosed in two distinct types of statutory reports (IRS 990-T, SEC 13F), uncovered strong evidence of systematic underreporting of unrelated business taxable income. thewidowsmite.org/epa-tax @DeloitteUS

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/

Thanks to readers for minor corrections and thoughtful requests for more clarity on the data-heavy charts. A "great migration" of LDS households within the U.S. is plain to see from published Church statistics. 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-202…

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 March 2024, we first pointed out Ensign Peak's extensive holdings in 26 "war & weapons" stocks. Since then, EP has reduced its holdings of those stocks each quarter. Cumulative holdings down by roughly half as of Q3 2024. thewidowsmite.org/sinstocks/

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