In some cases, they then tried to pressure the managers of closed-end funds to make that happen.

"We need to separate out the market impact and issues related to closed-end funds," he said.

It's very possible you could do just as good or better with a closed-end fund.

But in a closed-end fund, the number of shares are fixed.

And the answer will be watched closely by managers of other closed-end funds.

Leverage is the tool of choice today among closed-end funds.

The average loss for closed-end funds that did not use leverage was much less - 13.6 percent - during the same period.

Closed-end funds may not always be able to profit from this leverage.

Q. What's a closed-end fund and is this a smart time to buy one?

But despite their strong showing in recent years, closed-end funds seem exotic to some investors.