Investors trimmed stocks in October and generally tucked into safer cash as concerns over slowing economic growth and rising interest rates undermined risk appetite, Reuters polls showed on Monday.
US and continental investors also sharply cut their exposure to euro zone bonds and stocks, both of which have been popular allocations so far this year.
Surveys of 43 leading investment firms in the United States, Japan, continental Europe and Britain showed an average holding of 60.7 percent of assets in equities, down from 61.2 percent a month earlier.
Cash holdings climbed to 4.7 percent from 4.1 percent, a typical move when investors are uncertain about the future.
The story for bonds, meanwhile, was mixed with British and continental European managers cutting exposure, US investors buying debt and Japanese firms holding pat.
Overall, bond holdings rose slightly to 32.2 percent from 32.0 percent.
"We are scratching our heads about inflation as that is the big question market out there which is holding back equities and pushing up bond yields," said Franz Wenzel, senior strategist for AXA Investment Managers in Paris.
October was dominated for investors by concerns that central banks would react to signs of inflation by raising interest rates either earlier or higher than expected.
The US Federal Reserve, for example, has shown no sign that it intends to pause in its tightening cycle as a result of hurricane damage in the US Gulf region, while the European Central Bank has becoming increasingly hawkish.
The latter is one reason that European investors cut euro zone bond holdings to 50.9 percent of their global bond portfolios from 57.9 percent. US investors cut exposure to 12.9 percent from 15.5 percent. Caution about the euro zone also spilled over into stocks. Continental European investors cut euro zone stock holding to 24.8 percent from 31.0 percent while US investors moved to 11.6 percent from 14.5 percent.
The overall findings of the Reuters polls match those of various other recent surveys that have suggested a sharp rise in risk aversion. Major stock markets reflected this with losses in October such as the 3.16 percent decline in MSCI's world index.
US fund managers slightly raised their holdings of bonds and cash at the expense of equities, although exposure to stocks remained high.
The US poll showed allocations of 67.1 percent in equities, down from 68.2 percent in September.
Bond exposure was slightly higher at 27.2 percent compared with September's 25.4 percent while cash allocation rose to 4.1 percent from 3.3 percent.
European fund managers cut bond holdings, particularly those in the euro zone where interest rate expectations have been rising.
The poll showed that managers held 50.6 percent exposure to equities, unchanged from September but bond allocations shifted to 40.4 percent from 40.7 percent and cash rose to 3.9 percent from 3.3 percent.
Japanese investors also reduced their stocks weightings, particularly US equities.
The monthly survey showed investors' allocations for stocks in their global portfolios dipped to 52.3 percent in October from 52.9 percent in September.
The overall weighting for bonds was unchanged from the previous month at 42.4 percent, while the cash position climbed to 5.3 percent from 4.7 percent, reflecting investors' risk-averse stance.
British fund managers switched to cash away from bonds and stocks.
The October survey showed the average bond exposure down at 18.9 percent in October from 19.4 percent in September and 20.3 percent in August.