Vanguard On Hold

I work for a private investment firm/money manager. I knew I most likely would not be able to have a personal trading account, so today I contacted our compliance department to see what my options are. (I would like to open a Roth IRA, and had planned to do so at Vanguard.)

I received a response stating that, as an employee, I can only open an account at one of the following designated brokerage firms:

TD Ameritrade
Charles Schwab
Merrill Lynch
Morgan Stanley

I tried to do some research on the sites, however there seems to be WAY more information than I want/need. I looked specifically for no-load, low-cost index funds and Charles Schwab seems to have a few (SchwabFunds) that hover around the 0.50% expense ratio. I might be able to get some sort of "special" or "discount" by stating that I am an employee of my specific firm, but I am not certain of that. I am disappointed that my no-load, low-cost Roth IRA with Vanguard has been tossed out the window while I work at my current company. I am a huge fan of Vanguard/Fidelity and heard their praises sung all during college, as well as in the pf blogosphere! My current income is low and as such, I am looking for very low costs for investing. (My 401k is through my firm and all fees are waived.)

**Update: I am going to inquire if I can specifically invest in Vanguard mutual funds, as they are 3rd-party mutual fund accounts. I am also going to see if I can allot a voluntary contribution to my 401(k) plan if I really cannot open an account with Vanguard.

What would you do in my situation? Do any of you have accounts (specifically, Roth IRAs) with the above firms, and would you recommend them?