Doug Ammerman Is OC’s Accountant to the Rich and Famous
It’s safe to say that people who spout the old cliches about accounting work being on the dull side have never met Doug Ammerman.
In a field that, fairly or not, is associated with green eye shades and drudgery, Ammerman represents the rarefied high echelons: the tax man whose client list doesn’t include just the wealthy, but also a long list of celebrities from the sports and the entertainment worlds.
You have to wonder what kinds of spicy stories the 48-year-old Emerald Bay resident could tell if he weren’t bound by professional ethics.
“They have interesting lives,” he said. “I’ve met some fascinating people. That makes my job interesting.”
Nevertheless, within the bounds of discretion, the managing partner of KPMG’s Orange County office offers a fascinating look at what it’s like to help manage the finances of the famous,and to try to make them realize that fame may be fleeting, so it’s time to sock money away.
From Rosie O’Donnell to the Righteous Brothers, from Kobe Bryant and Reggie Jackson to Pete Sampras, those looking to Ammerman to secure their future include a long list of household names.
To think it all started with a penguin. Or rather, The Penguin,Ron Cey, the third baseman of the Dodgers who was a ’70s fan favorite.
From there, Ammerman’s practice expanded nationally and his list of celebrity clients grew. Meanwhile, he kept a significant part of his original practice, which was with wealthy OC families and closely held businesses such as In-N-Out Burger and Edwards Theatres Circuit Inc. Ammerman says he specializes in working one-on-one.
“While many professionals, at least on the tax side, have concentrated on the corporate end, I started specializing on the individual side,income tax planning and estate planning,” he said.
Unique Challenges
And he’s had to tailor his advice to be relevant for his clients. Financial planning for athletes and entertainers poses unique tax challenges for accountants, especially when it comes to the issue of residency. For example, a player for the Anaheim Angels has to file taxes not just in California, but in most of the states where he plays, according to Ammerman. And some major league cities have their own city income taxes,such as Detroit, Cleveland, New York City and Kansas City. On the other hand, states such as Texas and Washington don’t have state income taxes. In all, one year’s tax returns for a professional baseball player may be a stack of paperwork a foot high.
“If you don’t do it right, you could be exposing the athlete to double taxation,” Ammerman said.
Another challenge Ammerman faces when working with jocks and celebrities is convincing them to manage their money conservatively and surround themselves with a good team of advisors, not just one person.
“They delegate check-signing authority and investment decisions to their agent, who may be a phenomenally skilled negotiator but may not know anything about managing money,” Ammerman said.
While some athletes like Reggie Jackson have had extended careers, the reality is that most have a limited career span, cut short by injury or the nature of the sport.
“The average (major league baseball) career is approximately six years; in football, it’s half that,” Ammerman said.
Making A Difference
Jackson credits Ammerman with helping him recover from debt when he lost some $4 million in a failed investment in car dealerships from 1987 to 1992. Jackson also had a complicated personal financial situation, with revenue from a multitude of sources.
“I’ve made mistakes financially,” Jackson said. “I had a hit once,luckily, I had the assets to manage it and had the cash flow.”
“I had to make sure everything was done correctly,” he said. “Doug’s been the best thing that’s happened to me in terms of business. He’s as good as it gets.”
Ammerman doesn’t mind talking about most of his famous clients, but is tight-lipped about one particular NBA player: Dennis Rodman. Ammerman used to work with Rodman as part of a collaboration of Orange County professionals, which formed the now-defunct Rodman Group. The group, headed by coin trader and sports agent Dwight Manley, handled the flamboyant basketball player’s business affairs.
Though Ammerman says he doesn’t really follow sports (he says he focuses on individual players he works with), he does enjoy baseball. In fact, he sits on the Anaheim Angels’ advisory board. The board was formed by Anaheim Sports president Tony Tavares and is composed of various professionals from the community who address issues such as increasing attendance at games and developing fan loyalty.
Ammerman says the team’s disappointing season and low attendance in 1999 can’t be blamed on anyone specifically, that it had more to do with bad luck and injuries. But he added that the Major League Baseball organization as a whole could be faulted for not leveling the playing field for all the teams.
“You have a real disparity between revenue capabilities of certain teams like the New York Yankees (and smaller-market teams),” he said. “And what that means is with the existing structure, you’re going to have a handful of teams that are able to spend more money (to) put a competitive team on the field.”
For now, Ammerman is concentrating on the growth of KPMG’s OC office. There was a 17% increase in staff in 1999 and the company expects to move to new, larger offices at 600 Anton Blvd. within the next four to six months. Ammerman says the most dramatic increase in business has been in the company’s consulting practices.
Dot-com fever may have hold of the land, but he still thinks accounting is a pretty good entry point, not just into money management, but many fields. Ammerman doesn’t regret choosing accounting as a major when he filled out his college application at the tender age of 16.
“Certainly a lot of people probably wish that they had gotten an engineering degree and gone to work for some dot-com startup in Mountain View,” he said, “but I’m not sure I would’ve done it differently.” n
Who’s Who
A partial list of Doug Ammerman’s clients, past and present:
Jim Abbott
Kobe Bryant
Ron Cey
Michael Chang
Lenny Dykstra
Chuck Finley
Reggie Jackson
DOER’S PROFILE
DOUG AMMERMAN
Position: managing partner, KPMG Orange County
Age: 48
Education: Cal State Fullerton, BA in accounting and University of Southern California, MA in business taxation.
Resume: KPMG Los Angeles, 1974; named partner, 1984; took six-month leave to serve as special assistant to the Secretary of the Interior in Washington, D.C.; currently national partner in charge of KPMG’s personal financial planning practice, managing partner of OC office and executive director of the Family Wealth Institute
Family: wife, Leslie; daughters Brooke, 14, and Kellie, 11; son Colby, 9
Hobby: swimming; has completed two ironman triathalons
