Dec 1 (Reuters) - Global emerging market equity fund managers have cut their holdings in Turkish banks to a record low, data from Copley Fund Research showed, reducing exposure to an economy grappling with a plunging currency and soaring inflation. The percentage of funds invested in Turkish lenders fell to a historic low of 18.6% last week, a sharp decline from the nearly 80% in 2010 when it peaked, according to the data which analyses filings of 247 actively managed funds with $500 billion in assets under management. The average weighting allocation to Turkish financials shrivelled to 0.1% from well above 1.5% in 2010, while the total amount of money invested in Turkish lenders across the sample size stood at just under $360 million. Turkish markets have been roiled in recent weeks with the lira tumbling 44% since the start of the year and logging its second-worst ever month in November, hammered by President Tayyip Erdogan"s endorsement of sharp monetary easing despite soaring inflation and widespread criticism. "Turkey"s questionable monetary policy has continued to chip away at investor confidence, forcing emerging market managers to cut allocations to their lowest levels on record this year," said Steven Holden, founder of Copley Fund Research, a data provider. "For financials exposure, emerging market investors are instead betting on India, Russia and Mexico as their key overweight holdings." Lira crash steers global investors away from Turkey financials Lira crash steers global investors away from Turkey financials Data from Copley Research also showed the percentage of funds with an "overweight" rating on Turkish financials is at 16.6% versus close to 70% in 2010. The most widely held bank was Garanti Bank (GARAN.IS), with 7.7% of funds holding position though at a very low average weight of just 0.04%. Spanish lender BBVA (BBVA.MC), which already owns nearly half of Garanti, launched an offer to buy the rest of the Turkish lender in mid-November. read more Other financial stocks held by some global emerging market funds were Akbank (AKBNK.IS), Sabanci Holding (SAHOL.IS) - which includes a banking division - and Yapi Kredi Bank (YKBNK.IS). The lira plunge has boosted Turkey"s exporter-dominated stock market by more than 25% year-to-date with the main index (.XU100) hitting a fresh record high on Wednesday. However, the country"s financial sector (.XBANK) - a dominant force on its stock market - has gained less than 1% in 2021 as investors fear spiralling inflation, falling interest rates and rising bad debt will spell trouble for lenders. Emerging economy stock markets often surge when their country runs into trouble as locals deem equities a relatively safe asset, expecting companies to either ramp up prices to offset spiralling inflation or benefit from a weaker domestic currency if they export overseas.