Mystery of ARCP's Success? No Mystery, Says Kay

NEW YORK CITY—Along with reporting strong quarterly results, American Realty Capital Properties‘ second-quarter earnings call Tuesday offered a peak under the hood of one of the highest-performance muscle cars in the REIT sector. To hear company president David S. Kay tell it, though, the mystery of the net lease powerhouse’s success is no mystery.

Kay, who came aboard as ARCP’s president last November and soon will succeed Nicholas Schorsch as its CEO, told investors on Tuesday’s call that he has spent a great deal of time with the investment community and research analysts over the past several months. “I have been asked hundreds of questions, and many have expressed a sense of incredulity: namely, how is this possible?” he said. “For example, I am often asked how a company of our size can consistently invest in properties with cap rates meaningfully better than our competitors. There is no alchemy here, I assure you.”