COSTA MESA, Calif. — J.D. Power announced that President and CEO Finbarr O'Neill has informed the company’s board of directors of his intention to retire, effective March 2018.

J.D. Power’s board has commenced a search to identify a successor in partnership with search firm Egon Zehnder. O’Neill, 65, will remain with the company during the transition and then serve as a senior adviser. J.D. Power was acquired in September 2016 by XIO Group, a London-headquartered private equity firm. Over the past year, O’Neill has successfully led the transition from S&P Global (formerly McGraw Hill Financial) to XIO Group ownership.

“We are deeply grateful to Fin for his leadership of J.D. Power. During his tenure, the firm has expanded globally and increased its sector expertise, while maintaining the firm’s core brand values of independence and integrity,” said Joseph Pacini, CEO of XIO Group. “Over the last year alone, Fin has directed the firm to record profitability, the company has strategically entered the B2C market while also enhancing its ‘big data’ capabilities for an increasingly digital world.”

In his 10 years with J.D. Power, Mr. O’Neill led the firm during a period of tremendous expansion. He oversaw the dramatic expansion into data and analytics, the digitization of the platform as well as entrance into the B2C market through the acquisition of National Appraisal Guides (NAG). Previously, he served as CEO of Hyundai Motor America, Mitsubishi North America and Reynolds & Reynolds.

“In an increasingly mobile and connected world, J.D. Power is poised for even greater growth,” said O’Neill. “This is a good time for me to hand off to the next generation of leadership. None of the success that we have enjoyed would have been possible without the support and leadership of all the great people across J.D. Power.”