For firms which are not as well capitalized “access to debt and setting up good deals will be challenging as interest rates rise,” says Sabatini.

However, firms globally invested with a wide pool of potential acquisition will likely see increased opportunities. The ability to do international transactions and to stay competitive in all market cycles is the differentiating factor.

With retail, W. P. Carey had foresight in countering the troubles e-commerce caused for brick-and-mortar shops. “We've taken a view, maybe in advance of the rest of the market, and in the US we disposed of most of our retail square footage. We thought for many years that retail in the US in overbuilt and we've unloaded it,” he says.

By contrast, in Europe because many more barriers to entry exist with retail, Sabatini sees it as a more attractive asset class. In the US, there is much greater retail per capita than in Europe. “As those headwinds from the Internet and e-commerce affect retail, we think the US is going to get hurt more than Europe.”

The tax reform encourages sale-leaseback activity. W. P. Carey has historically competed with debt financing. Many companies looking to raise money may consider a bond offering or borrowing money from a bank or arranging a sale-leaseback. “With the new tax plan there are limits on deductibility of interest. There are no limits on the deductibility of rental expense,” explains Sabatini. “So sale-leasebacks are going to appear more attractive than they have been relative to other types of borrowing and debt financing.”

Sabatini will address additional perspectives and insights at the RealShare Net Lease event at the Park Lane Hotel in New York. He'll be a speaker on the “State of the Industry: 2018 Panel: Smooth Sailing or Murky Waters?” on April 5, from 9:00 am to 9:50 am.