A glossy seven-page spread on Bermuda may be read by more than four million people after the Bermuda Government and companies within the Island's international business sector paid to participate in an advertising feature in widely-read finance journal, BusinessWeek.

Advertising sections editor Stacy Sass McAnulty told yesterday that BusinessWeek has nearly one million subscribers but special measuring techniques indicate the weekly magazine may reach as many as 4.8 million readers in the US and Canada, and 5.5 million readers worldwide.

The special Bermuda feature, which was written by business writer Roger Crombie, printed in the North American version of the September 5, edition.

Participants in the advertising feature were the Bermuda Government, the Bermuda Captive Conference ? 2005, Bermuda-based insurance companies Allied World Assurance Holdings, Ltd., Max Re Ltd. and XL Capital Ltd., as well as the Island's leading banks, Butterfield Bank and the Bank of Bermdua.

BusinessWeek would not disclose the cost of the feature, and participating companies reached by would also not say what they paid individually to be featured.

Although a paid-for feature, Mr. Crombie said he was able to approach the project as an editorial, rather than advertorial, exercise.

"There were no restraints on the editorial I wrote," he said. "I tried to present a balanced picture (of Bermuda as an insurance domicile) rather than as advertising copy."

Ms Sass-McAnulty said: "Our approach is to write an interesting article but it is advertising supported."

The Bermuda article, as an advertising feature, is a positive picture of how the Island has developed into a leading insurance and reinsurance market. It included special comment from Bermuda Premier Alex Scott, saying "those in the know come to Bermuda".

All participating companies were featured in the article.