Jim O'Neill, chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, will retire later this year. 

In a letter announcing O'Neill's retirement plans, Goldman chairman and chief executive officer Lloyd Blankfein and president and chief operating officer Gary Cohn called O'Neill "an influential economist and thought leader" and "an expert in the world’s foreign exchange and bond markets." They highlighted O'Neill's identification of "revolutionary economic trends," in particular the concept of the BRICs. 

O'Neill joined Goldman Sachs in 1995 as a partner in the roles of co-head of global economics research and chief currency economist. He began his current role as chairman in 2010.

Goldman officials did not return requests for comment.