Family Office Capital Positioned to Fill U.S. Housing Gap, 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 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.

Kaufman's 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 report found that direct real estate accounts for 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 found that 75% of respondents invest directly in companies, and that public equities became the top destination for new capital this year.

Those figures matter to Texas and the broader U.S. economy because they signal where a deep pool of private capital may flow next. With North American family offices already overweight real estate relative to peers and a sizable share intending to add more, the decisions made by these investors could influence housing supply, construction activity, and community development at a time when many markets remain short on attainable homes.

"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," he 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.

For readers in Texas and beyond, the implications extend beyond a single summit panel. If family offices follow through on plans to increase real estate allocations, they could provide long-term capital for workforce housing and related infrastructure that traditional funds often avoid due to short investment horizons. That could mean more available homes for workers, sustained construction demand, and new opportunities for local developers and service providers. Kaufman's message in Miami will test whether other families embrace that patient approach.