Harpreet S. Mangat

My father didn't recruit me into this industry. He didn't need to. Every morning, sometimes on Saturdays, I'd watch him get up early and head off to work with a kind of enthusiasm that didn't need explaining. That image stayed with me. I started my career at Heller Financial and spent the early years captivated by markets, doing research, following the numbers. Over time, something shifted. I realized the most meaningful work I could do for a client wasn't picking the right investments. It was helping them keep more of what they'd earned through smarter tax planning and estate strategies that could save their families significant money over decades. That became my focus, and it still is.

Twenty-five years later, what I love most about this work has nothing to do with markets. It's the relationships. I get to know my clients in a real way, understand what drives them, what they're hoping for, and what keeps them up at night. Then I get to watch them hit their goals and move on to the next ones. Being there for those moments, across years and life stages, is something I don't take lightly.

I grew up in Plainsboro, NJ, a small, safe town where you knew your neighbors. I now live in Lawrenceville with my wife, Heather, and our two kids, Jaydyn and Samira. Jaydyn plays basketball and soccer, and Samira has taken up volleyball and golf. They've both told me they want to work at White Knight someday, which means I have a succession plan in place, whether I engineered it that way or not.

Outside the office, I play basketball and chess (the connection to the firm's name is not a coincidence), and I root loudly for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, the New York Giants, and the New York Knicks. On Sundays, I teach Sikh history to kids between the ages of 9 and 12 at the Central Jersey Sikh Association. My community gave me a great deal growing up. Teaching is my way of giving some of that back.

• Certified Financial Planner (CFP®)

• Chartered Investment Management Analyst (CIMA®)

• Certified Divorce Financial Analyst (CDFA®)

• B.S. in Economics, Georgia Institute of Technology, 1999