Ensign Peak Advisors

Investment Strategy

Ensign Peak Advisors is the investment management arm of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, managing approximately $100 billion in assets from its headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah. The fund was established in 1997 to manage the church’s reserve funds, which are accumulated from tithing contributions by church members and other church revenues. The fund’s scale became widely known in 2019 following a whistleblower complaint filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which brought public attention to what had been a relatively private institutional investment operation.

At approximately $100 billion, Ensign Peak is one of the largest institutional investment pools in the world, comparable in size to some sovereign wealth funds and exceeding the endowments of all but a handful of institutions globally. In 2023, Ensign Peak and the church agreed to pay $5 million in SEC fines related to the use of shell companies to file 13F reports, which had obscured the full scale of the fund’s public equity holdings.

Based on SEC 13F filings, Ensign Peak maintains a large and diversified portfolio of U.S. public equities, with holdings across hundreds of publicly traded companies. The fund’s public equity positions span technology, financial services, health care, consumer goods, industrials, and other sectors. The portfolio also includes fixed income, real estate, and other asset classes, though these are less visible through public filings.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints also operates significant commercial enterprises through affiliated entities. Deseret Management Corporation oversees the church’s for-profit portfolio, which includes Bonneville International (media), Deseret Book (publishing), Beneficial Financial Group (insurance), and agricultural operations spanning farmland and ranching across the western United States. These commercial operations are separate from Ensign Peak but represent additional dimensions of the church’s overall financial footprint.

Private Markets Approach

Ensign Peak Advisors is believed to allocate a portion of its approximately $100 billion portfolio to private equity, real estate, and other alternative investments, though the fund’s private markets activities are less visible than its public equity holdings due to limited public disclosure requirements for private investments.

The fund’s scale would position it as a significant LP in private equity and real estate markets. At $100 billion, even a modest percentage allocation to alternatives would represent billions of dollars in committed capital across private equity, real estate, and other illiquid strategies. The fund’s long-term investment horizon, backed by an institution with no near-term liquidity needs, is well suited to illiquid private markets investments.

Real estate is a particularly relevant asset class given the church’s extensive property holdings. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints owns significant real estate assets globally, including temples, meetinghouses, educational campuses, and commercial properties. The church developed City Creek Center, a major mixed-use development in downtown Salt Lake City, and maintains agricultural operations across hundreds of thousands of acres in the western United States, Hawaii, and other locations.

The fund’s agricultural investments align with the church’s historical emphasis on self-reliance and food production. The church operates Deseret Ranches, one of the largest cattle ranching operations in the United States, spanning approximately 290,000 acres in central Florida.

Fund managers considering outreach to Ensign Peak should recognize that the fund maintains a lower public profile than most institutional investors of comparable size. The investment team operates with significant discretion, and information about the fund’s manager relationships, allocation targets, and investment process is not publicly available to the same degree as most pension funds, endowments, and foundations. Managers who can connect through the Salt Lake City institutional investment community or through existing GP networks may find the most effective pathways to engagement.