It’s funny what a little economic crisis can do. By now, we allknow that volatility has become a part of daily life in the newglobal economy. As a result, many institutional investors and theirconsultants have muddled through over the past four years in a kindof dreamy world where reality often has intruded in a swift andharsh manner.

Now one of the leading players in the institutional world is,once again, attempting to connect public institutions to help themmake more informed real estate investment decisions. Call it theglobal band of brothers.

In a bid to streamline the global conversation, sovereign wealthfunds, which now control some $5 trillion in assets undermanagement worldwide, are establishing a new InstituteCouncil of Investors. The plan, hatched by theSovereign Wealth Fund Institute, hopes to bringtogether executives from a variety of institutional investors,including SWFs, public pension funds, central banks, governmentinvestment authorities and other governmental entities. Initialmembers include some of the most senior names in the publicinvestor industry.