NEW YORK, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Rebecca Patterson, chief investment strategist at Bridgewater Associates, is leaving the hedge fund founded by the billionaire investor Ray Dalio at year end, according to a note she posted on her LinkedIn.

Patterson joined Bridgewater in January 2020, after multi-year stints at family office Bessemer Trust and JPMorgan & Chase. She said she has decided to leave Bridgewater to explore her "next chapter."

"After 25-plus years of researching and investing, I've come to realize that my strengths and passion as an investor are best aligned with more discretionary, less systematic approaches," she wrote.

Her role at Bridgewater involves research, building systematic strategies for trading and developing investment solutions.

"We are certainly stronger because of her, and she will always remain a close friend of the firm," a Bridgewater's spokesperson said in a thank-you note.

Her current functions at Bridgewater will be absorbed by other employees at the world's largest hedge fund, a source familiar with the matter said. (Reporting by Carolina Mandl in New York; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)