Mr. Kärst is a Managing Director of W. P. Carey & Co. LLC and Chief Operating Officer of W. P. Carey International. He is also Director of W. P. Carey & Co. Ltd., Director of W. P. Carey & Co. International LLC and President of Corporate Property Associates 17 - Global Incorporated (CPA®:17 - Global), W. P. Carey’s latest income generating real estate investment trust (REIT).
Mr. Kärst began his career at W. P. Carey in 1992 as a Senior Analyst and Assistant to the Chairman after completing Deutsche Bank's Analyst Program in Germany. In 1994, he left W. P. Carey to pursue his Masters of Business Administration degree at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business.
MBA in hand, Mr. Kärst joined Deutsche Bank's Associate Program in New York where he first covered multi-national automotive companies focusing on the development of investment and corporate banking business and later joined the telecommunications group.
Mr. Kärst returned to W. P. Carey’s investment department in 2000, playing a key role as a founding team member of W. P. Carey International. Promoted to Director in 2001, Executive Director in 2002, and Managing Director of W. P. Carey & Co. LLC and Chief Operating Officer of W. P. Carey International in 2005, Mr. Kärst currently focuses on growing W. P. Carey’s international sale-leaseback business.
Mr. Kärst attended Germany's University of Konstanz and received a BA in Economics from Colorado College. He serves as a Trustee of the W. P. Carey Foundation and serves on the Board of the Friends of Atlantik-Brücke e.V. Foundation, Inc.
Mr. Kärst is fluent in German.
