LONDON, Aug 3 (Reuters) - The number of sovereign wealth fund investment deals almost halved to 26 in the first quarter from the previous three months, with a total value of $6.8 billion -- the lowest since the last quarter of 2005, a survey showed on Monday.
The survey by client advisory firm Monitor Group and research institute Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei showed four state-owned funds from Abu Dhabi were the most active during the first quarter, accounting for 12 out of 26 deals, and making up almost three quarters of the total reported investment value.
"Coupled with slowing income from plummeting oil prices and contracting global trade in 2008, the volatile investment climate has made SWFs more risk averse," said the paper, which surveyed more than 30 sovereign wealth funds (SWFs).
"Retreat cannot be a long-term strategy for SWFs; it would be short-sighted for them to forego opportunities when they have available cash. The current environment offers abundant opportunities for patient investors with cash to pursue the ancient advice to 'buy low, sell high'."
Nearly two thirds of the deals, representing 88 percent of the value, were made in foreign markets. A third of the deals, representing two thirds of the value, were undertaken in the OECD countries, marking a change from the latter half of 2008 when there was a shift towards emerging markets,
Europe remained a preferred market for SWF investments, receiving $3.5 billion -- just over half of the total reported investment value for the quarter. The report also estimated that SWFs suffered mark-to-market losses of $67 billion on their investments in publicly-listed companies by the end of the first quarter.
(Reporting by Natsuko Waki; Editing by Andy Bruce)