Ratinf agency Standard & Poor's has awarded a "AA" rating to SEB's True Market Neutral fund - the first Nordic fund of hedge funds to receive such a strong rating.

"This is a stamp of approval for the fund, which has delivered stable returns for our customers regardless of the development in the stock market," says Mikael Spångberg (pictured), head of the team at SEB that manages the fund.

S&P states in its ratings report that SEB "deserves credit for its highly disciplined application of the process as evidenced by achieving the fund objective throughout, and during periods in which the overwhelming majority of Fund of Hedge Funds have fallen short. For example, the fund returned three per cent in 2008, and has continued to provide positive returns every year."

The fund, which is targeting institutional investors, aims to provide an annualised return of three-four percentage points above the risk free rate and to deviate no more than five percentage points from the target and have no correlation to stock markets.

In addition to issuing the new rating for SEB's True Market Fund, S&P has also rated the bank's Dynamic Manger Alpha and Asset Selection funds "AA".