Tributes have been paid after Chartered Financial Planner Tim Ames died on Christmas Eve aged 45 after a short illness.

Mr Ames, who was a former branch chairman of the Institute for Financial Planning and a contributor to Financial Planning Today’s stable of publications, was the finance director at Chartered Financial Planning firm Cathedral Financial Management, based in Exeter.

His funeral will take place at Exeter Crematorium on 15 January at 12.30pm, followed by a wake at Sandy Park. Mr Ames’ wishes were for those attending to wear dark clothes.

A note on Cathedral’s website says: “It is with sadness that we announce Tim Ames, CFM’s finance director passed away, after a short illness on Christmas Eve at home with his loved ones.”

The statement added: “Tim joined CFM in 1993 while reading Financial Services at Bristol Business School and quickly worked his way up eventually taking over the firm with Emma Ames. Tim was a driving force behind the success of CFM Ltd and he will be sorely missed by the team.”

Mr Ames, who was also a Fellow of the Personal Finance Society (PFS), previously wrote for the IFP’s Financial Planner magazine - a publication produced by Portfolio Publishing - publisher of Financial Planning Today.

He was active in the IFP and was a qualified Certified Financial Planner professional. The IFP merged with the CISI in 2015.

Mr Ames left the Indefatigable Naval School in Anglesey at the age of 16 and went to college in Cornwall to study law, accountancy and business studies. He then became one of the first students to study financial services at the University of the West of England. At university he was inspired by Certified Financial Planner David Kerridge, one of his lecturers.

• Financial Planning Today editor Kevin O’Donnell said: “In many ways Tim was the embodiment of the professional Financial Planner, hard-working, focused and utterly committed to his profession. He was active in the IFP and professional life for many years, including as an IFP branch chairman, and was regarded as a great asset.

“Tim also wrote for us several times over the years and his articles were always thoughtful and perceptive. In one article on work-life balance, he talked about his passion for Financial Planning and his love of ski-ing and the outdoors life. He was a regular on the IFP’s popular ski-ing trips.”

“He will be very much missed by his family, colleagues and the profession he devoted himself too. To lose him at such a young age is a great loss to the profession.”

• Do you have memories of Tim Ames you would like to share? Please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with your tributes.