John McNulty, a former global head of Goldman Sachs’s investment management division, suffered a fatal heart attack Wednesday in Naples, Fla. He was 52.

McNulty retired in June 2001 after boosting the firm’s assets under management more than six-fold since 1995. He became a senior director upon his departure. At the time of his retirement, he was the head of the investment management division and a member of the management committee.

Under McNulty’s leadership, Goldman’s assets under management grew to more than $300 billion from $50 billion in 1995,a 40% annual rate that out paced Goldman’s main rivals partly because the growth came from a smaller base.

“Under John’s leadership, the firm built a global investment-management business that has become a significant and integral part of the firm,” Chief Executive Officer Henry Paulson and President Lloyd Blankfein wrote in an internal memo. “At the same time, John was instrumental in making acquisitions and developing new business areas that provided us with new strategic capabilities.”

McNulty, the son of an Irish immigrant gardener, grew up in a working-class neighborhood in Philadelphia and once said he never dreamed of be coming an investment banker. He first came to Goldman as a summer associate in 1979, then joined the firm in Philadelphia as a broker in 1980. He became a partner in 1990 and co-head of asset management in 1996. In 1999, he brought together the firm’s fund and private client units.

He sat on the board of trustees of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, where he received a master’s degree in business administration in 1979, according to the memo.

He is survived by his wife, Anne, a former managing director at Goldman, and their three children, John, Brynne, and Kevin.