Hatteras Funds, the boutique alternative investment firm, has added four alternative investment specialists to its national sales team.

Thomas Baker joins as regional director for the West, Casey Brunner as regional director for the Midwest, Michael Kurz as regional director for the Southwest and Robert Schwab as metro regional associate. 

Baker was previously the vice president and divisional director for Morgan Stanley Investment Management and brings 20 years of industry experience to his new role. Brunner used to be a regional sales director at MSIM and Invesco, where he specialized in portfolio construction. Kurz joins the company from 1st Global Advisors in Dallas where he led the structured and alternative investment units. Schwab was previously a regional consultant at Goldman Sachs. 

The new appointments are in response to growing market interest on various alternative investment classes, according to the firm. In a September 2011 study by Cogent Research titled 2011 Advisor Brandscape, 78 per cent of the 1,643 retail financial advisors polled said they have steered their clients toward alternatives, with each client having an average of 11 per cent of their portfolios linked with non-traditional assets. 

Hatteras Funds is based in North Carolina and manages some $2 billion in alternative investment strategies for institutions, endowments, pensions and high net worth individuals.