'NO PLACE TO HIDE'
The nearly month-long war triggered by joint U.S.–Israeli strikes on Iran in late February has resulted in Tehran effectively shutting the Strait of Hormuz, a passageway for a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas flows.
That has raised the spectre of stagflation - high inflation with weak growth - and resulted in investors selling almost everything except the U.S. dollar.
"Since the war broke out, we've reduced equities because there's no place to hide," said Singapore-based De Mello.
Stocks in Asia have been particularly hard hit; South Korean equities (.KS11), opens new tab are down about 13% this month while Japan's Nikkei is about 9% lower. In contrast, U.S. stocks have fared better with a 6% decline.
That slightly better performance from U.S. stocks has lured some investors.
Kenyon Tse, head of sales trading at UBS in Hong Kong, on Tuesday said every day since the beginning of March, his firm's trading desk had seen net selling in TSMC (2330.TW), opens new tab, the biggest Asian firm by market capitalisation and many global investors' biggest exposure to Taiwan.