Then he quipped, “For starters, I’d be happy with Burgundy.”
Spina wasn’t referring to a big Dijon-based money manager (there isn’t one), but rather to his passion for fine wine. He keeps a well-stocked cellar at home in Wayland, Massachusetts, and tries to squeeze in a little oenology between pitching investment services to financial firms on his trips to the Continent.
Appointed to State Street’s top spot in May, Spina will take on the additional role of chairman when Marshall Carter retires in January. He is betting his tenure on increasing the firm’s international business, which now accounts for about 25 percent of revenue. Despite Carter’s impressive legacy, one important strategic goal he did not achieve was to generate between 30 and 40 percent of State Street’s revenues outside the U.S.
Spina, 57, hopes that by the time he retires, Boston-based State Street will have a greater market presence overseas than it has in the U.S. That would make 2008 a very good year.
