Things are getting lively in Knoxville, Tenn. (I know, when are they not?)

For example, BPV Capital Management has been bumping things up a bit with a new hire, in the form of Frank Gregory to the newly-created role of chief of distribution in late June. Earlier that month, the firm also hired Craig Davis to the position of chief financial officer, another newly-created position.

The firm also plans to expand its external sales force from five to at least eight, and as time goes by, fill in other roles related to relationship management and key accounts.

All of this is to support BPV's ramped up fund production. Launching four this year, the firm's leadership plans to unroll four to six more every year going forward. It will continue to do deals with new subadvisors to fuel these new funds going forward.

"We're committed to taking this company to a special place. We've got a good story to tell and we're positive we can bring great asset managers to the marketplace," BPV chief executive Mike West recently told MFWire.

Before joining BPV, Gregory had served as a principal at FMG Consulting, and before that as principal and chief strategy officer for Security Capital Advisors.

Prior to these two roles, Gregory served 13-years with Lord Abbett, serving as a partner and director of retirement platforms.

Gregory described his role at BPV in this way:

The exciting thing for me with BPV is that it is a company that is poised for growth. It has money managers that anticipate the future needs of today's investors, and the financial advisors who serve them. Here was the opportunity for me to get on the ground floor of something absolutely tremendous and build out a team. My role is really to build a distribution force across the retail and institutional business lines that will achieve the vision that Mike laid out. I plan to help raise assets and build a very long-term viable business. Mike has been very clear that the first and dominant priorty should be the owners of the share classes of the mutual funds. It is my job to make sure that we bring that to the largest possible audience

West said that one key challenge in terms of sales this year is generating broader understanding of the firm's funds, many of which are considered alts. Analysts, he argued, have a hard time finding the right categories in which to fit the funds. 

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