The optimistic message expanded on The Hartford’s “Investor Survival Guide,” a brochure  PLANCO used throughout the year to help financial pro- fessionals advise their clients amid market volatility. PLANCO sent out more than 500,000 guides in the sec- ond half of 2001 alone. And that was just a small part of the company’s massive educational efforts during the year. Those efforts included 5,000 instructional semi- nars—1,200 more than in 2000—and constant advice and selling strategies for The Hartford’s products. “Our value is in providing education to financial professionals,” says Tim Seifert, PLANCO senior vice president and managing director. “One of their major concerns in 2001 was how to show their clients that we’ve been through downturns and crises before.”  PLANCO wholesalers did that and much more. They provided reliable counsel only a trusted partner can offer. They helped financial professionals success- fully show clients the benefits of using short-term buy- ing opportunities to enhance their long-term investment positions. Consequently, despite the  “We want to be a trusted advisor to our clients so they in turn can be trusted advisors to theirs,” says Seifert. “Our role doesn’t always revolve around prod- ucts. Sometimes it just means being the go-to person, the one who can solve difficult problems. Financial pro- fessionals need an inner circle of people they can always turn to.” PLANCO is at the center of that circle. PLANCO’s extraordinary service and steady sup- port during 2001 reveal how well the company’s whole- salers always think ahead and anticipate financial professionals’ needs. That does more than sell financial products; it builds trust. Trust is the bedrock on which PLANCO was founded 25 years ago. Trust—along with a constant flow of reliable information and advice—is what has helped PLANCO’s clients weather changes in the financial markets over those 25 years. And trust is what makes PLANCO the financial advisor’s “partner of choice” today. prolonged market correction, many of the financial pro- fessionals PLANCO works with—and their clients— earned above-market returns in 2001.  26