Investors bought into the sell-off in semiconductor shares in October and also turned to gold and UK blue chips as markets wobbled, according to purchase data from Bestinvest, the online investment platform.
Rising oil prices revived inflation fears during the month and pushed up bond yields, while doubts grew about the huge sums being spent on artificial intelligence (AI).
The MSCI Emerging Markets Index fell 8.9% in sterling terms and the S&P 500 lost 3.5%, while the FTSE 100 returned 2.9%.
Despite the sell-off in chipmakers, the VanEck Semiconductor ETF was the third most popular exchange traded product among Bestinvest clients.
Jason Hollands, managing director of Bestinvest, said some investors were "using the weakness to add exposure rather than retreating from the AI theme".
Two physical gold products also made the top ten, with Vanguard's S&P 500 tracker taking first place.
Low-cost global index funds dominated open-ended fund purchases, led by Fidelity Index World.
Among investment trusts, Temple Bar came top, ahead of Scottish Mortgage, whose largest holding is SpaceX.
FTSE 100 names dominated individual share buying, with Lloyds Banking Group, Rolls-Royce and HSBC in the top three.
SpaceX, the rocket maker, came fifth.
