Fresh Russia investments hit by global fears

* Renaissance forum attendees say new investments on hold

* Say fears over U.S., euro zone outweigh Russia

* Russian economy will not protect it from global crisis

By John Bowker and Melissa Akin

MOSCOW, June 29 (Reuters) - Foreign investors in Russia are gripped by fears of a renewed global economic meltdown and are holding off from investing fresh capital, a host of fund managers and bankers said on Tuesday.

Attendees at an annual investor conference in the sun-drenched Russian capital told Reuters that while the Russian financial climate had improved markedly on a year ago, global factors made it hard to be truly confident.

"There are a lot of people hesitating ... the whole market is a little bit shaky ... Europe is not stable and (a crisis) would affect Russia and the CIS," said Joseph Belle, managing director of Zurich-based VT Wealth Management, at the Renaissance Capital-organised event.

Russia's sharp recovery from its first recession in a decade made its stock markets the best performing in the world in 2009, although the dollar-based RTS index .RTS is down 17 percent since April.