W. P. Carey (WPC) Citi’s Miami Global Property CEO Conference 2026 summary

Opening remarks and investment highlights

• Net lease REIT with $16B equity market cap and $25B enterprise value, diversified across geographies and property types.

• Record deal volume in 2025, with momentum carrying into 2026; investment activity underpins sustainable growth.

• Over $900M in unsettled equity forwards, effectively pre-funding 2026 and likely 2027 investment volume.

• Portfolio has strong rent growth profile, contributing about half of expected earnings growth and reducing reliance on acquisitions.

• AFFO guidance viewed as conservative; stock trades at a discount to peers, presenting potential for multiple expansion.

Deal activity, guidance, and credit risk

• Over $3B in investments over the past five quarters, with 2025 as a reset year after strategic simplification.

• 2026 guidance includes $10M–$15M in potential credit loss (60–90 bps of rent), allowing for 4.2% AFFO growth at midpoint.

• 2025 ended with $6M in lost rent (40 bps), below the current year’s conservative starting range.

• Conservative deal volume assumption of $1.5B for 2026, compared to $2.1B in 2025, with potential for upward revision.

• Upside potential exists from lower credit loss and higher acquisition activity as the year progresses.

Investment spreads, pricing, and competition

• 2025 weighted average cap rate was 7.6%, with contractual rent bumps in the mid to high 2%.

• Average yield factoring in bumps reached low to mid 9%, with funding costs around 6%.

• Expectation for cap rates to compress by 10–30 bps in 2026, but improved cost of capital should widen spreads.

• U.S. net lease market is highly competitive, especially in retail; industrial deals comprise about 75% of recent volume.

• Private capital is entering the space, but competition has not significantly impacted deal flow or cap rates.