Jim & Ellen Kaplan met in high school and dated in both high school and college. After Jim completed a PhD in Applied Mathematics, they moved to Chicago where Jim was assistant professor of mathematics at Northwestern University. They then moved to Boston where he became a tenured associate professor of mathematics at Boston University.
A consulting relationship involving options trading morphed into the founding of an investment advisory business, J.L. Kaplan Associates, which grew to manage $5.3 billion at its peak. This business was sold to Wachovia Bank in 2002. In 2007 Jim founded a successor company, Cubic Asset Management, which was sold to CW Advisors in 2024 and where he continues working to this day.
Ellen runs a health insurance consulting business, Group Health Specialists, which she founded more than 40 years ago.
Jim’s passion for wine extends over three decades. The brand name, Aftermath, is a tribute to Jim’s early career – literally, a new career after math.