Fund bet backfires for San Diego County.

(From AFX Europe (Focus))

SAN DIEGO (AFX) - San Diego County government is accustomed to accolades for earning outsized returns on its employees' retirement money, while the city of San Diego has been ridiculed for bungling management of its pension fund.

Now, after betting on the beleaguered Amaranth hedge fund, the county is under fire for what some consider a surprisingly risky investment strategy.

The county invested $175 million last year with Amaranth Advisors, the Greenwich, Conn., fund that told investors this week it lost 35 percent of its assets and was liquidating energy holdings after the recent drop in natural gas prices.

The …