The executives at 361 Capital plan to rev things up for the rest of 2014, and they've hired a researcher and educator to help.

The Denver, Colorado firm has hired Clifford Stanton to serve as director of portfolio solutions and product management. Stanton joins 361 from Envestnet, where he had served as chief research officer. Stanton co-chaired Envestnet's investment committee and managed the firm's research department as well as the development of its asset allocation products.

In this newly-created roll for 361, Stanton will, among other things, help broaden the firm's outreach to RIAs as well as expand its lineup.

"One of the biggest things that is needed in the world of alternatives is education," 361 chief executive Tom Florence told MFWire. "Advisors are trying to best figure out how to use alternatives in their portfolios and what this role provides is a resource for them to lean on if they choose to get assistance in adding alternatives to their mutual fund asset allocation portfolios or their asset allocation portfolios in general."

For example, the firm plans to file for a new fund with the SEC next week. Florence couldn't speak on the specifics of the fund before the filing.

"I really think this fund launch is big for us as we continue to focus on building up our relationships with registered investment advisors. That is a key goal for us, and that will be a key role for Cliff," Florence said. "He will be very involved in determining which strategies will be most appropriate the launch in this environment. He is going to spend a lot of time talking to advisors, figuring out what they want."

Stanton has a long research career to help in this new role. He had served as chief investment officer at Prima Capital before it was acquired by Envestnet in 2012. Before working at Prima, he was the director of Research for Innovest Portfolio Solutions, and before that a senior investment analyst at INVESCO Private Capital. He also served as director of research for Denver-based Portfolio Management Consultants.

There was one other skill-set of Stanton's that Florence expected to leverage heavily: business building.

"He brings experience working in larger investment groups or companies and has that perspective. At the same time, he had been a builder, with a lot of experience putting together operations from the ground up in larger organizations," Florence said. 

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