It might have been a slightly uneasy, awkward feeling when the Clinton Group’s George Hall, a pension fund investment advisor, addressed the New Haven Police and Fire Retirement Fund meeting on July 27. This was before a market sell-off plunged the stock market to its worst August sell-off since Long Term Capital Management sparked a 1998 predicted disaster. And here it was, with the S&P 500 still clinging on to 2067 on July 27, Hall was explaining negative investing performance to the very retirees who put their lives on the line for the public. Clinton GroupClinton Group outlines turnaround strategy in mid-market companies Hall, the dapper man on the Manhattan social circuit, began the meeting by stating what was obvious to the board: The investments his firm recommended have thus far disappointed. It is unclear how the investments were initially sold or if anticipated win percentage and drawdown / volatility analysis was provided to the pension fund, but those mentioned in the resulting meeting notes might be most accurately categorized as risk laden. Clinton Group’s recommended investments included: A small college housing real-estate firm, College Crest, that went public for the first time and apparently became overwhelmed and is grappling with housing safety issues, all resulting in poor performance After poor performance in one firm, Clinton Group packed the board of directors of a company to presumably straighten out management Investments in palladium miners have “been particularly tough given the strength of the U.S. dollar” and... More