I use a lot of them especially in my advisory accounts.  I’m never really concise   but here are the main points I cover.

  1. the difference between a "regular" mutual fund where they issue new shares everytime anyone invests which dilutes the shares of the existing holders and a closed ended fund where there is a finite or set number of shares.   2. how open ended mutual funds calculate the shares value (NAV) vs how the closed end funds can vary in price higher or lower than the actual underlying investments value.  Market value and supply and demand.  I always make sure they know that the closed end fund CAN trade at a value less than the underlying investments, but a mutual fund will not.  On the other hand it can also trade higher and a mutual will not.   3. the lower costs of the closed fund  vs the higher costs in an open ended fund. 12B fees etc etc.   4. When you buy AND when you sell you pay a commission, just like buying and selling a stock: unlike a mutual fund that you pay a commission (assuming A shores) only once.  However, the combined commissions of the buy and sell is most likely to be much less than the standard mutual fund which can be as much as 5.75% unless you qualify for breakpoints.   5.  Closed ended funds are managed just like any other fund with investments coming and going in the portfolio mix.  BUT . Because the closed ended fund managers are not dealing with big influxes or witdrawals of money they can more effectively manage the portfolio.  Unless the fund issues new shares (which they can do)  the change in value in the fund comes from market demand.   6. Closed ended funds tend to be a bit more narrow in scope than standard mutual funds.  For instance we can buy one that only deals in water companies world wide.   Hope this helps.  I use them quite a bit in my advisory accounts because we can move around frequently and even place stop loss  sell limit and other types of orders on them.