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 argue that family office capital is best positioned to build the housing American communities lack. The summit, now in its 33rd edition, lists Kaufman among its speakers on its published agenda. His appearance follows the release of Citi Wealth's 2026 Global Family Office Report, a survey of roughly 350 family offices across more than 40 countries.
The Citi report found that direct real estate makes up about 10% of the average family office portfolio globally and 13% in North America, the highest share of any region. Nearly a third of North American respondents said they plan to increase their real estate holdings. The report also noted that 75% of respondents invest directly in companies, and that public equities became the top destination for new capital this year.
Kaufman said the data reflects a deliberate approach. "Family office capital is patient by design, and real estate rewards patience more than almost any other asset," he 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."
He emphasized that the primary 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 consolidates its housing, construction, technology, and AI infrastructure businesses into a single national development platform. Its operating companies include DEK Builds, an integrated design, build, development, and investment firm active in 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 extend beyond the summit. With North American family offices holding the largest regional allocation to direct real estate and a significant share planning to increase it, the potential for private capital to address housing shortages is substantial. Unlike institutional funds that face fixed investment horizons, family offices can hold assets through market cycles, potentially enabling more workforce housing and other projects that require long-term patience. Kaufman's call for families to direct that capital toward housing could influence how family offices view their role in community development.
Kaufman & Company is a permanent capital holding company founded by Daniel Kaufman and is the trade name of Kaufman Family Office LLC and Kaufman Real Estate & Consulting LLC. Its 10 operating companies are Convivium Living, DanReDev, DEK Builds, Design Build Affordable, DK Homes, Forge Development Partners, Kaufman Development, Kaufman Real Estate & Consulting, LoneStar Kaufman, and Kaufman Ventures, whose portfolio includes BridgeStar, Meridian, LandBriefing, SpreadSight, FoundCheck, ServerDomes, and Mr Good Container Homes. Oldivai is an aligned, independently led workforce housing partner. The platform represents more than $2 billion in project value and more than 10,000 housing units across more than 25 years of building, lending, and investing.
