ANNUAL STUDY World's millionaire ranks rose at slower pace in 2002

About 7 million people are millionaires.
NEW YORK (AP) -- The ranks of the world's millionaires increased in 2002, but at a slower pace than in the past because of weak global economies and stock market declines.
An annual study released Wednesday estimates that there were 7.3 million people in the world with financial assets of $1 million or more at the end of 2002, up 2.1 percent from the previous year. The increase, down from 3 percent in 2001, was the lowest rise in the survey's seven-year history.
The numbers of millionaires in North America dropped 1.9 percent last year to 2.2 million, but rose in other regions.
The wealth these people have amassed, meanwhile, grew 3.6 percent in 2002 to $27.2 trillion, compared with growth of 3 percent in 2001 to $26.2 trillion, the study showed. In market boom years such as 1999, millionaires saw their wealth grow as much as 18 percent.
The "World Wealth Report" was prepared by the Merrill Lynch brokerage firm and the Cap Gemini Ernst & amp; Young consulting firm.
Brokers, bankers and other financial experts watch the figures closely because people with high net worth tend to be their best customers, though they represent just a small fraction of the world's 6.3 billion people.
Gorman said that wealthy individuals were not hurt as badly by stock market declines because they tend to be conservative investors.
He said that the typical high net worth individual last year had 30 percent invested in fixed-income instruments such as bonds and 25 percent in cash, with just 20 percent in equities. Their other holdings included 15 percent invested in real estate and 10 percent in alternative investments, such as hedge funds.
That shows, he said, that "a properly diversified portfolio is resilient even in the most difficult market environments."