Never mind the ozone layer, mind your dividends

TRY sleeping in Singapore without the air-conditioning switched on these days. It is an exercise in sweaty, tossing-and-turning misery. The mercury is steadily rising, the nights are stifling and the relentless hum of the compressor has become the island’s unofficial lullaby.

​But what we often fail to realise is that we are paying for this heat twice.

The first hit arrives at the end of the month in the form of a bloated electricity bill. The second hit, however, is a massive, invisible invoice that is quietly making its way into your investment portfolio.