This was an in-person meeting and a recording is not available.
Visiting Rotarians
Keith Peers, RC of Cambridge-Preston-Hespeler
Guests
Saimi Hartikainen, our exchange student from Finland
Robin Stanton , VP at RaeLipskie Partners, our guest speaker
Bell Ringers
Given the current political situations and uncertainties, President Dave declared all Canadians as Bell Ringers this week!
President’s Comments
President Dave welcomed all to the meeting today, the first since the Philadelphia Eagles won Super Bowl 2025.
Happy Jar
Paul Rostrup, who now has a home in Bobcaygen, was happy to be back in town and able to attend the meeting today.
Lumi Mironescu is happy that daughter, Ella, our exchange student in Japan, is continuing to do well. She has recently visited Tokyo and has moved to a new host family. We were all delighted today to see a short video of Ella performing with a group of Japanese drummers from her school.
Club Announcements
Coldest Night of the Year
Paul Rostrup, who has already signed up, reminded and encouraged all members to support this important activity. There will be an opportunity to walk as a group or if the Saturday doesn't work for you, you can gather your family and friends and walk in your neighbourhood or on one of our beautiful local trails. The official group walk is on Saturday February 22nd, your choice of 2 or 5 km. Check out CNOY/location/kitchener for more details on the event.
This will be our 5th year with a ROTARY TEAM! We need your help to spread the word. Or better, donate or join our TEAM if possible! Click this link to see our Kitchener Rotary Club Team page - then click to JOIN or to DONATE:
A receipt is provided for a donation of $20 or more.
A Better Tent City
Neil Swayze thanked all members for their donations to our previous collection of winter clothing for the residents in ABTC and let us know that member, Uzma, Bhutto, organized an additional drive through the Coalition of Muslim Women which provided an additional 60 items for a grand total of 240! Neil also thanked those who support today’s drive for dishes and cutlery.
Dues Increase
As per the information that was provided at the AGM, members are reminded that club dues will be increasing by $10 every 6 months for the next while to mitigate our annual club budget deficit. Our next billing will be mid-February at $280.
Program Highlights
Our guest speaker today was Robin Stanton from RaeLipskie Partnership, introduced by Ross Newkirk:
Robin is a vice-President and Portfolio Manager at The RaeLipskie Partnership and has been with them since 2018. Prior to this he was a Vice-President at CBRE Caledon Management, an investment firm providing customized private market solutions for institutional investors. And before that, he was Vice-President of Investments at AGF Investments.
Robin has been a Kitchener resident for 15 years and is an active community volunteer, cyclist, skier and golfer.
He has been managing the investment portfolio for our Kitchener Rotary Club Charitable Foundation. We are very thankful that RaeLipskie provides an annual donation of 25% of the management fees back to the foundation!
Robin provided a throughout review of the past year and current financial factors with an examination of each of the following:
TSX Market Cycle (which had 17.99% YTD increase in 2024
Forward Price to Earnings Ratios
S&P 500 Market Cycle (23.5% YTD Increase in 2024 US / 34.5 % in C$)
S&P 500: Wall Street 2025 Year-End Price Targets (predicting steady growth throughout the year)
Canada Government Bond Rates
Federal Reserve and Bank of Canada Policy Rates
Canadian Manufacturing PMI
Canada: Consumer Price Index
Household Net Worth, Canada
Canada C$ vs US$
Unemployment Rates
US Trade Balance with Canada, Mexico and China
Top 5 US Goods Imports by Value from Canada (Crude oil is by far the largest)
US Imports Many Key Goods From Tariff-Hit Nations
Overall the financial picture at the end of 2024 was positive with a promising outlook for 2025, that is until, of course, the current political situation and the threat of tariffs and a tariff war and we will be dealing with significant uncertainty and volatile markets. The reality is that whatever the US does with tariffs there will be significant negative impact on its own citizens.
Closing Remarks & Reminders
Members are reminded that next Monday is Family Day so there will be no meeting. Please see details below for upcoming events.
Kitchener Rotary e-Newsletter
