Recently, MFWire reported that the alts shop Altegris was shifting into high gear in terms of product development.

Well, that's only part of the story.

The La Jolla, Calif.-based firm plans to support the development and distribution of its growing product lineup with a hiring push, according to executive vice president and managing director of global sales and consulting Dick Pfister.

For example, the firm currently has ten people in its research team. Pfister says that Altegris plans to grow the team in order to increase the firm's expertise in a number of areas, including credit and yield as well as private equity.

"We believe that the premiums offered in these categories is very attractive if you have the right talent and tenure to extract that alpha," he said.

The firm also plans to grow its sales team "dramatically" over the next 12 to 24 months, according to Pfister.

Altegris' team currently consists of 36 people, and while Pfister did not give any specific hiring targets for 2014, he said that over the course of two years the team could grow by as much as a third, depending on market demand and available talent.

The increased staffing will be critical for a number of initiatives, including more educational initiatives such as the online Altegris Academy, which provides webinars, white papers and educational tools on the subject of alternative investing.

The extra staff will also help in broader pushes to established markets such as advisors as well as channels that Pfister expects to grow rapidly over the next year, like banks and trusts as well as 401(k)s and DC I-Os.

"More and different types of investors are becoming interested in this category. Banks and trust are just getting their toes into this space, are starting to allocate more to alts. The world of 401(k)s and DC I-Os are also starting to get involved in alternatives. The structure itself is becoming more liquid and demand is gaining steam," he said. 

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