For all its billion-dollar gyrations, the actual investment strategies behind a highly valued and hotly debated stock portfolio of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints appears to be a relatively staid affair.managed by the faith’s investment arm, Ensign Peak Advisors, shows money managers have carefully steered those huge holdings to closely mirror the investment mix of a leading stock index known as theThe account has grown from a pandemic-related low of $29.
Ensign Peak’s overall approach, according to portfolio analysis that includes stock dividends as well as price fluctuations, has produced a 14.9% annualized return for the Salt Lake City-based fund since the end of 2019. By comparison, financial analysts with Widow’s Mite note, the S&P 500 index produced yearly investor gains of 16.1% over that same time.
Its portfolio analysis also shows Ensign Peak has been a net seller of stocks since the start of 2023, when it dumped nearly $504 million in shares in the first quarter. Widow’s Mite said it suspected that Ensign Peak was in the process of reallocating its stake in U.S. stocks to other investments such as real estate, bonds and private equity — possibly in anticipation of better returns.