Family Office Capital Positioned to Tackle Housing Shortage, Kaufman Says Ahead of Miami Summit

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. 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.

Those findings matter because they suggest family offices are not retreating from real assets even as public markets regain favor. For Kaufman, the data confirms a structural advantage that family offices have long claimed but rarely quantified: the ability to hold assets indefinitely without the pressure of fund deadlines or quarterly redemption cycles.

“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.”

The implications extend beyond portfolio allocation. If even a fraction of the nearly one-third of North American family offices planning to increase real estate holdings direct that capital toward workforce housing, it could help fill a gap that institutional developers often avoid because of lower margins and longer timelines. Kaufman & Company invests only its own capital and does not raise outside funds, a model that mirrors the permanent capital structure many family offices already use.

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.

Kaufman’s message in Miami will likely resonate with an audience that has grown more sophisticated about direct investing. With public equities now the top destination for new capital, the summit offers a counterpoint: that the most durable returns may come from assets families can touch, manage, and hold through cycles. The question is whether patience alone is enough to move capital into the housing segments that need it most.