* Bond weighting at record high of 49.6 pct in March
* Japan quake, N. Africa tensions trigger active reallocation
* Fund managers' cash position highest since Nov 2009 (Corrects equities, cash and bond figures for March asset allocation)
By Chikafumi Hodo and Akiko Takeda
TOKYO, March 31 (Reuters) - Japanese fund managers reduced their global stock weighting to a 12-year low in March, while raising their bond weighting to an all-time high as they lightened risk positions after a devastating earthquake in Japan, a Reuters survey showed.
Fund managers increased their cash position in March to the highest level since November 2009 after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in northeastern Japan severely damaged Tokyo Electric Power's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
Money managers also had to actively cut their risk positions as increasing unrest in the Middle East and North Africa bolstered global oil prices.
"The massive disaster in Japan was the major factor. But even leaving that aside, uncertainty was already building due to unrest in the Middle East and North Africa," said Yoshinori Nagano, a senior strategist at Daiwa Asset Management.
"The market was relatively stable despite many uncertainties. There are expectations that investment conditions will improve potentially, but this doesn't mean that the market can ease its caution towards taking risks."
Fund managers' average weighting for global equities in March fell 3.6 percentage points from the previous month to 42.4 percent -- the lowest since January 1999.
The weighting for bonds climbed to the highest since the survey was first compiled in February 1995. It jumped to 49.6 percent in March from 47.6 percent a month earlier.
"Shares prices are expected to be under selling pressure for a while as the market is still not sure about the impact of the nuclear problem and power shortages," said Yuichi Kodama, an economist at Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance.
"Stocks are likely to be supported later in the year as we are expecting to see demand related to reconstruction in the damaged areas, but gains are likely to be limited due to uncertainty over potential economic growth in the country."
Japanese money managers piled into more cash positions, with exposure to cash jumping 1.0 percentage point to 5.2 percent -- the highest since November 2009.
Their weighting for alternative assets rose by 0.6 point to 1.5 percent in March, while the weighting for property inched up by 0.1 point to 1.4 percent.
The Reuters poll was based on responses from 12 Japan-based institutional investors, instead of the usual 13 as one company was unable to finalise its allocation due to the earthquake.
The poll of asset management companies was conducted March 14-24 when Japan's benchmark Nikkei average rapidly plunged to a two-year intraday low of 8,227.63 on March 15.
The Nikkei regained some strength, climbing to around 9,500 this week as foreign investors flocked to purchase oversold Japanese shares, but the market lacked the energy to post convincing gains amid views that the nuclear crisis in Japan was far from over, equities fund managers said.
In terms of regional allocations, fund managers have lowered their weightings for Japanese stocks and bonds.
The equities weighting for Japan fell 0.4 percentage point to 28.4 percent in March and the bond weighting dropped 1.0 point to 34.8 percent. (Reporting by Chikafumi Hodo; Editing by Joseph Radford)