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 will argue that family office capital is uniquely suited to address the shortage of housing in American communities. Kaufman's appearance comes on the heels of Citi Wealth's 2026 Global Family Office Report, which surveyed roughly 350 family offices across more than 40 countries and found that direct real estate accounts for about 10% of the average family office portfolio worldwide and 13% in North America—the highest of any region. Nearly a third of North American respondents said they plan to increase their real estate holdings.
The Citi report also revealed that 75% of family offices invest directly in companies, and that public equities have become the top destination for new capital this year. These findings underscore a broader shift in how family offices allocate assets, with real estate playing a particularly prominent role in North America. Kaufman sees this as an opportunity to steer capital toward workforce housing and other underserved segments of the market.
"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 emphasized that the advantage of a family office is time, not size. Because Kaufman & Company invests only its own capital and does not raise outside funds, it can take a longer-term view. "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's approach is exemplified by its recent launch of BUILD 2030 on Oct. 3, a strategy that consolidates 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, and LandBriefing, a Kaufman Ventures platform that tracks land and housing fundamentals across U.S. markets.
The implications of Kaufman's message are significant for both family offices and the broader housing market. With North American family offices already holding the largest share of direct real estate and many planning to increase allocations, their capital could become a critical source of funding for housing development, particularly in segments that traditional institutional investors overlook. Kaufman's call for families to use their patient capital to build workforce housing suggests a potential shift in investment priorities that could help alleviate housing shortages in communities across the country.
