W. P. Carey Announces Election of Wharton School International Financial Expert Dr. Richard Marston to Independent Investment Committee

New York, NY – October 28, 2010 – Investment firm W. P. Carey & Co. LLC (NYSE: WPC) has announced that Richard C. Marston has been elected to the Investment Committee of Carey Asset Management Corp., the Company’s affiliate responsible for managing the firm’s Corporate Property Associates (CPA^®) series of non-traded real estate investment trusts.  

The independent Investment Committee reviews and approves the investments made by the CPA^® REITs, investments that help further the growth of creditworthy companies worldwide.  The Investment Committee is not directly involved in originating or negotiating potential investments but instead functions as a separate and final step in the investment process.

Richard C. Marston is the James R. F. Guy Professor of Finance, Professor of Economics and Director of the Weiss Center for International Financial Research at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.  He is also a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research and has served as a Research Fellow at the Brookings Institution.  His works on international finance, exchange rates, monetary policy and cross-border valuations have been published by institutions including Cambridge University Press, University of Chicago Press, Princeton University and the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.  A graduate of Yale University, a Rhodes Scholar with a B. Phil in Economics from Oxford University and the holder of a PhD in Economics from MIT, Dr. Marston is recognized globally as an expert in international investing and finance in the business and academic communities.       

Commenting on the Committee and the election of Dr. Marston, W. P. Carey’s Chairman Wm. Polk Carey noted, “The role of the Investment Committee is an essential component of our investment process and a critical factor in the success we have achieved over more than three decades and continue to achieve with our investment programs.  Rather than relying on rating agencies to evaluate proposed investments, our funds are served by a team of individuals with extensive investment experience and the perspective to evaluate proposed transactions in the context of cyclical markets.  This approach to risk management has served us well and is one of the primary reasons why W. P. Carey and our CPA^® programs have performed so well over the long-term, including during the recent economic turmoil.”

Trevor Bond, W. P. Carey President and CEO, added, “Dick Marston’s credentials are particularly welcome given the increasingly international profile of our investment activities.  With his addition to the Investment Committee, transactions proposed on behalf of our CPA^® REITs will be vetted by a team of senior executives with more than 200 years of combined investment experience. Their level of expertise, together with our established investment process, conservative investment strategy and a deep, seasoned team of professionals in the fundraising, asset management and acquisitions disciplines sets W. P. Carey apart from others in the net lease sector.”  

The other members of the Investment Committee include:

Nathaniel S. Coolidge, Chairman of the Investment Committee and former Senior Vice President  of the John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company and head of the Bond and Corporate Finance Department.

Axel K.A. Hansing, Senior Partner at Coller Capital, Ltd., a global leader in the private equity secondary market, and is responsible for investment activity in parts of Europe, Turkey and South Africa.

Frank J. Hoenemeyer, former Vice Chairman and Chief Investment Officer of the Prudential Insurance Company of America.  

Dr. Lawrence R. Klein, Benjamin Franklin Professor of Economics and Finance, Emeritus, at the University of Pennsylvania and its Wharton School, who was in 1980 awarded the Alfred Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.

Dr. Karsten von Köller, chairman of Lone Star Germany GMBH, a US private equity firm, Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Corealcredit Bank AG, Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board of MHB Bank AG, and Vice Chairman of the Supervisory Board of IKB Deutsche Industriebank AG. 

Nick J.M. van Ommen, former Chief Executive Officer of the European Public Real Estate Association (EPRA), currently serves on the boards of Babis Vovos International Construction SA, a listed real estate company in Greece, Intervest Retail and Intervest Offices, listed real estate companies in Belgium, and Pirelli RE SGR SpA, a leading real estate manager in Italy.

W. P. Carey & Co. LLC
W. P. Carey & Co. LLC (NYSE: WPC) is an investment management company that provides long term financing to companies worldwide via sale leaseback and build to suit transactions and manages a global investment portfolio of approximately $10 billion. Publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange (WPC), W. P. Carey and its CPA^® series of income-generating, non-traded REITs help companies and private equity firms unlock capital tied up in real estate assets.  The W. P. Carey Group's investments are highly diversified, comprising contractual agreements with approximately 275 long-term corporate obligors spanning 28 industries and 16 countries. http://www.wpcarey.com

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Federal securities laws.  A number of factors could cause the Company's actual results, performance or achievement to differ materially from those anticipated.  Among those risks, trends and uncertainties are the general economic climate; the supply of and demand for office and industrial properties; interest rate levels; the availability of financing; and other risks associated with the acquisition and ownership of properties, including risks that the tenants will not pay rent, or that costs may be greater than anticipated.  For further information on factors that could impact the Company, reference is made to the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission .