TL;DR
Vanguard's unique ownership structure (customers as shareholders) lets it keep fees perpetually low, which is the real reason it beats rivals.
Vanguard is one of America's largest fund companies, and in 1976 it launched the world's first index fund. Today it manages $12 trillion in assets.
The author likes Vanguard because its fund fees are almost always the lowest in their class — think VOO, VTI and the rest.
Customers are the owners, and profits go back to them
Vanguard has no public shareholders and no private boss skimming off profits. It is owned by its own funds, which are in turn owned by the investors who buy them.
In other words, people who buy Vanguard funds are Vanguard's shareholders. Whatever the company earns after costs goes straight back into the funds, driving down management fees over time.
The author's verdict: this is what a company with a conscience looks like.
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