This is an interesting article; enjoyed reading it. Perhaps I misunderstood, but it seems to me that the author may have it backwards with respect to alpha. The factor profile is a RESULT of the investment selection process followed by Buffett (and his managers) as opposed to these factors driving his investment process. I do not think that is a subtle distinction; rather a critical difference in typical factor based portfolios versus bottom up investing processes as it relates to the generation of returns above a benchmark. All that said, investing to beat a benchmark is a creation of the investment industry in the first place and while a convenient mechanism, it ought to be irrelevant compared to seeking generally consistent long-term absolute returns.