Daniel Kaufman, founder of the permanent capital holding company Kaufman & Company, will speak at the Global Family Office Investment Summit in Miami on Oct. 15 to 16, where he plans to make the case that family office capital is best positioned to build the housing American communities are short on. The summit, now in its 33rd edition, lists Kaufman among its speakers on its published agenda.
His appearance comes weeks after Citi Wealth released its 2026 Global Family Office Report, a survey of roughly 350 family offices in more than 40 countries. The report found that direct real estate makes up about 10% of the average family office portfolio worldwide and 13% in North America, the highest of any region, and that nearly a third of North American respondents plan to increase their real estate holdings. It also found that 75% of respondents invest directly in companies, and that public equities became the top destination for new capital this year.
"Family office capital is patient by design, and real estate rewards patience more than almost any other asset," Kaufman said. "The Citi numbers tell me families are not chasing the market; they are owning what they can see and manage. The question I want to put in front of the room in Miami is whether that capital is going where the country needs buildings most, which is housing for the people who work in these communities."
Kaufman said the advantage of a family office is time, not size. "We invest only our own capital, so every project has to stand on its own merit without a fund deadline pushing it," Kaufman said. "That freedom is the real edge a family office has. It lets you buy land when others are selling, wait out an entitlement process, and build workforce housing that a fund chasing fees would pass on. I would like to see more families use it that way."
Kaufman & Company invests only its own capital and does not raise outside funds. On Oct. 3, the company launched BUILD 2030, a strategy that brings its housing, construction, technology and AI infrastructure businesses under one national development platform. Its operating companies include DEK Builds, an integrated design, build, development and investment firm working across mountain resorts, hotels and commercial construction. LandBriefing, a Kaufman Ventures platform, tracks land and housing fundamentals across U.S. markets.
The implications of Kaufman's message are significant for family offices weighing their next moves. With North American family offices already holding the largest regional allocation to direct real estate and nearly a third planning to add more, the Citi data suggests a growing pool of patient capital. Kaufman's argument that this capital should flow into workforce housing highlights a potential shift in how family offices deploy their wealth: not just to preserve and grow assets, but to address a pressing national shortage. If more families adopt this approach, it could unlock new financing for housing that traditional funds often overlook, while also offering family offices a way to align their investments with tangible community impact.
