A green hedge fund jointly launched by Richard Branson and managed by GLG Partners has won high marks from Standard & Poor’s.

The Virgin Climate Change Fund, launched by Virgin Money, the financial services arm Branson's Virgin Group, and subadvised by GLG Partners, received an ‘A’ rating. S&P cited the experience of the three-month-old fund of funds’ managers and their track record for the accolade.

“GLG’s strong track record in European equities and success with the similarly-managed GLG Environment Fund bode well for the Virgin Climate Change Fund,” according to S&P, which also noted that GLG’s Environment and European funds have “provided excellent net returns to investors.”

The Climate Change Fund has outperformed the MSCI Europe index by 9.5%, net of fees, since inception. The fund invests in U.K. companies that have a lighter than average environmental footprint than their industry peers and aims for a fund footprint between 30% and 50% lighter than that of the MSCI Europe Index.