Ensign Peak Advisors: The Secret Fund
In 2019, David Nielsen -- a former managing director at Ensign Peak Advisors, the Church's investment subsidiary -- filed a whistleblower complaint with the SEC alleging the fund had accumulated over $100 billion in assets without disclosing this to members or regulators.
The complaint alleged the fund had been misrepresented to members as an emergency reserve, while in practice it was being used to partially fund commercial ventures, including the $1.4 billion City Creek Center mall in downtown Salt Lake City.
SEC Settlement -- February 2023
The SEC found that Ensign Peak Advisors had filed false regulatory forms to conceal the Church's investment portfolio from public disclosure between 1997 and 2019. The Church had used shell LLCs to obscure the fund's true size in SEC filings.
Ensign Peak Advisors agreed to pay $4 million in penalties. The Church itself paid $1 million for causing the violations. Neither admitted wrongdoing.
The SEC's order stated that the LLCs were created "at the direction of church leaders" specifically to avoid public disclosure of the portfolio's size.
City Creek Center: Tithing Funds and the Mall
In 2012, the Church opened City Creek Center -- a luxury retail mall in Salt Lake City -- at a reported cost of $1.4 billion. Church spokespersons initially stated tithing funds were not used. That claim was later walked back; the Church acknowledged funds flowed from Ensign Peak.
The mall includes high-end retailers including Tiffany & Co. and Nordstrom, operating steps from Temple Square. It is owned by Property Reserve, Inc., a Church-controlled real estate entity that does not publicly disclose financials.
Tithing as a Condition of Participation
Full tithe-paying status is required for a temple recommend -- the card that grants access to temple ceremonies including marriages, endowments, and proxy baptisms for the dead. Members who cannot or do not pay a full tithe are barred from these ceremonies, including attending the temple marriages of their own children.
Bishops conduct annual "tithing settlement" interviews to verify members' compliance. Members self-report their income; bishops then ask if they are "full tithepayers."
No independent audit of tithing expenditures has been made available to members since 1959, when the Church discontinued public financial reporting.
Humanitarian Aid: What Proportion?
The Church frequently publicizes humanitarian aid totals. Between 1985 and 2021, the Church reported donating approximately $2.5 billion in humanitarian aid -- averaged over 36 years, this is roughly $69 million per year.
Based on reported membership and average tithing estimates, analysts have estimated annual tithing receipts in the range of $7-8 billion per year. If accurate, humanitarian expenditures represent under 1% of annual tithing income.
The Church disputes any calculation based on estimated tithing revenue, as it does not disclose actual revenue figures. Independent verification is not possible.