Rory Tobin will also be responsible for the company’s institutional distribution in the newly-created role.
Tobin will be based in London and report to Mike Karpik, head of Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
On the appointment, Karpik said: “We have created this role to mirror investor needs and regulatory changes within the European distribution landscape.
“This appointment reflects our commitment to growing our distribution business to better service client needs, as well as our goal of expanding our foothold in the European institutional and intermediary markets.”
Tobin joins from Barclays Wealth & Investment Management where he was chief executive of Barclays Asset Management and global head of the investments and solutions group.
He was also head of international iShares at BlackRock, and global co-head of European cash and equity products at JP Morgan.
State Street Global Advisors is the asset management arm of State Street Corporation.
In October, the company launched what it claimed to be the world’s first passive global convertible bond exchange traded fund.
The SPDR Thomson Reuters Global Convertible Bond UCITS ETF is listed on the Deutsche Börse and aims to offer investors cost-efficient and transparent exposure to the asset class.