W.P. Carey (NYSE: WPC) helped to popularize the net lease approach, using a sale/leaseback model to support the financial needs and goals of its tenants. It hasn't strayed from this focus, spreading its portfolio across geographies and asset categories to position itself to be a long-term winner. Here's a quick rundown of what you need to know about this real estate investment trust (REIT).

W.P. Carey owns single-tenant properties, where the tenant is responsible for most property-level costs. That is what's known as a net lease in the REIT sector. Any single property is high risk because there's only one tenant, but spread across a large enough portfolio, this is actually a fairly low-risk investment approach. W.P. Carey owns over 1,400 properties, more than enough to spread the risk around. 

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Source Fool.com