Desert Rose Capital Management (“DRCM”) was founded as a result of the development of the Integrated Options Portfolio by Kirk Stafford. It all started one day, while reviewing various option pages, Kirk had an “aha” moment for using options in a way that he had never before seen nor heard. It occurred to him that rather than purchase the underlying stocks outright—he could instead purchase recently available, long-term call options on those same stocks at a fraction of the cost. He could then put the balance into CD’s or any number of other fixed income instruments that could offset the costs of the options. In this manner, he could greatly reduce the risks of stock ownership, earn extra interest and still participate in the entire upside of the stock or stock fund through the options. Because of his knowledge of options and investing, he instantly knew the great significance that this might have for the average investor. Naturally, Kirk assumed that other managers must have been using this strategy already. To his surprise, he realized that few, if any, were investing in this manner. Over the course of the next couple years, Kirk had a couple of other significant “aha” moments, including how to structure and better incorporate fixed income assets for less risk and better performance. These improvements helped form what is now known as the Integrated Options Portfolio (IOP). The full benefits of an IOP are best realized through customization to each specific client under the direction of professionals. Kirk formed Desert Rose Capital Management, Inc. in 2010 with the purpose of bringing these benefits into the hands of trained financial professionals, who could then take the IOP into the lives of their clients. And the rest, as they say, is history!