The Mormon Church's secretive $100 billion fund slashed 'big tech' stocks, quadrupled its Tesla stake, and bought GameStop shares last quarter
- The Mormon Church's $100 billion fund slashed its "big tech" bets last quarter.
- Ensign Peak Advisors also quadrupled its Tesla bet and bought GameStop shares.
- The fund's US stock portfolio rose in value to $44 billion.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
The Mormon Church's secretive $100 billion fund trimmed its technology bets, quadrupled its Tesla stake, and added GameStop to its portfolio last quarter.
Ensign Peak Advisors slashed its four biggest holdings - Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, and Alphabet - by more than 7%, SEC filings show. However, the combined value of the stakes still climbed to over $6.7 billion as the companies' stock prices rose.
The investing arm of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints also quadrupled the size of its Tesla bet to 467,000 shares. Coupled with a sharp increase in the automaker's stock price, the position surged in value by about 550% to $330 million as of December 31.
As a result, Tesla was Ensign's 23rd most-valuable holding at the last count, up from 141st three months earlier.
The fund snapped up 46,000 GameStop shares for less than $19 each last quarter as well. That stake was worth $22 million at the height of the short squeeze in January, when GameStop's stock price briefly hit $483. It's still valued at about $7 million at the current share price, compared to less than $900,000 at the end of December.
Ensign, which is more than 50 years old, grew its total holdings from 1,740 to more than 1,850 during the period. The overall value of its US stock portfolio rose by 11% to $44 billion.
The fund generally avoids investing in businesses that Mormons find objectionable, such as tobacco, gambling, and coffee companies. Philip Morris, Caesars Entertainment, Starbucks, and Coca-Cola are nowhere to be found in its portfolio.
Ensign declined a request for comment from Insider.