> Also worth noting that Buffett is an active manager and claims he could beat the S&P by a large margin if he was managing a smaller portfolio. And he's said t

> Also worth noting that Buffett is an active manager and claims he could beat the S&P by a large margin if he was managing a smaller portfolio. And he's said the efficient market theory is dumb and makes his job easier. He tells people to put their money into index funds and then does the opposite. From his perspective he's talking his own book, if there is another Warren Buffett level talent out there, no need to tell everyone to find the best competition and back him, might as well tell people they're wasting their time, just buy the index. Buffett already can't exploit his ideas and opportunities he sees because his scale is simply too large. So he doesn't even need to con investors into buying the S&P500. Your two points are in direct contradiction. It is possible that he realizes 99.9999% (read the Superinvestors of Graham and Doddsville) of investors are far better off with S&P500 index investing than actively picking stocks, and that he doesn't need to tell the 0.0001% anything because their skill will manifest itself.