NEW YORK CITY-Commercial real estate tops the list of industriesin which US decision makers would like to see sovereign wealthfunds invest, yet at the same time those decision makers take aless favorable view of the funds in the current downturn. That’sone of the findings of a global survey conducted by Hill &Knowlton among "elites" in seven markets, and the company’s Jim Coxtells GlobeSt.com that the wealth funds may need to do someimage-polishing.

"US awareness tends to be fairly low, especially as compared tosome of the developing countries," says Cox, VP of Hill &Knowlton’s corporate practice. "So this is a sort of a missedopportunity for people who hold the properties and are looking forbuyers."

Additionally, Cox says, "we found that depending on who thebuyer was—which sovereign wealth fund and what part of the worldthey’re from—the attitude varied considerably from ‘fine, bringthem on in’ to skepticism." Norway’s sovereign fund, for example,rates a warmer welcome than those of Algeria, Nigeria and Botswana.There’s also a tendency to be suspicious of the political motivesof sovereign funds in Russia or China, the survey found.