Ensign Peak Advisors

Roger Clarke serves as president and CEO and has led the firm since its formation in 1997. The investment team operates from Salt Lake City, though its size and organizational structure are not publicly disclosed. Day-to-day allocation decisions across asset classes are made internally, with external managers handling the majority of private-market commitments.

The portfolio is funded by surplus tithing contributions from members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The church collects donations globally and allocates a portion not needed for immediate operating or ecclesiastical expenses to Ensign Peak for investment. The capital pool is not donor-restricted in the manner of a foundation or endowment — it functions as a general investment reserve.

The firm invests directly in public equities and fixed income, as evidenced by its quarterly 13F filings. Private equity, venture capital, and real estate investments are largely executed through external fund managers. Direct co-investments alongside GPs appear to be rare, based on the absence of such disclosures in deal-level reporting.

In February 2023, the SEC filed a settled order alleging that the firm, over a period of more than 20 years, used a network of shell companies to mask the scale of its equity portfolio from public view, failing to file proper 13F disclosures. Ensign Peak paid a $5 million penalty and the related companies were aggregated under a single filing entity thereafter. The matter was closed in 2024.

It is neither. Ensign Peak is a taxable investment manager overseeing the liquid reserves of a religious organization. Structurally it operates closer to a sovereign wealth fund, given its scale and mandate, but its sole source of funding is voluntary charitable contributions rather than commodity revenue or foreign exchange reserves.

Yes, but only because it is legally required to file a Form 13F with the SEC as an institutional investment manager. These quarterly filings disclose long positions in U.S.-listed equities. The firm does not volunteer portfolio information and maintains no public-facing reporting on its fixed income, private equity, real estate, or non-U.S. holdings.

Ensign Peak Advisors is the primary investment manager for the church's financial reserves. Other church-related entities, such as Property Reserve Inc. (commercial real estate) and Farmland Reserve Inc. (agricultural land), operate independently. Ensign Peak does not publicly disclose organizational ties to these separately run entities.