Ann: Forager March 2020 Quarterly Report, page-38

Generally, LIC managers are a bit better than their open ended peers, not sure why this is, but I'd say that in aggregate, the honest ones probably create value, but create less value than their fees.

You need to capitalise the value of their fees (which takes a bunch of assumptions), and deduct that from the NTA to create an adjusted NTA, you then measure the resultant figure against the share price. If there is still a big discount, and you are confident of all your inputs, then buy and don't worry about how you will realise your investment. The market can be trusted in situations like that to find a way to reward good analysis and patience.

The key thing is to avoid the crooks. Check out BEL or NGE if you want to see what happens when the wrong sort of people become stewards of capital.