I would turn the question around and ask why other brokers and finance companies are percieved to occupy the moral cesspool and whether or not that's a fair ass

I would turn the question around and ask why other brokers and finance companies are percieved to occupy the moral cesspool and whether or not that's a fair assessment. My personal take is that if Vanguard can build a strong following and product by relentlessly focusing on minimizing expenses being passed on that's a net good thing (Amazon may be an apt analogy). There are more than enough opportunities for an active firm to prove that high expense fees are worth it (don't forget the survivorship bias) and to date they are failing to do so consistently.