Inside the IMN Family Office Forum Miami with Irv Adu-Gyamfi

September 25, 2025·25 min·2 clips

Jim Fried reveals why family offices are the 'magic bullet' that disappears when you try to access them.

1. Jim Freed interviews Irv Adu-Gyamfi on episode 839 of Fried on Business about the upcoming 10th annual IMN Family Office Forum East in Miami. 2. Irv has been heading family office event programming at IMN for roughly three years, joining after earlier work in asset management events on the institutional investor side. 3. The episode's central purpose is to preview the conference and clarify what family offices actually are for the South Florida real estate and business audience. 4. The conference takes place October 9-10 at Lowe's Hotel in Coral Gables, running from 8 a.m. on the 9th through midday on the 10th, with easy regional access and a cluster of strong restaurants nearby. 5. The opening keynote is a Q&A with Grant Cardinal, described as a Florida-based investor who built significant personal wealth and a family office; Jim Freed calls him someone he has watched on TV and in podcasts many times. 6. Other confirmed attendees include We Family Offices, a major presence in Florida; Candice Beaumont of Elle Investments; and representatives from Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley wealth advisory teams. 7. Irv defines a single-family office (SFO) as a standalone vehicle for one family unit, potentially run by a chief investment officer or the family itself, versus a multi-family office (MFO), which pools two or more families under a shared management group. 8. He notes that MFOs are more complex because families within them may invest together or independently, whereas an SFO's decisions center entirely on one family's capital and priorities. 9. Main conference topics include family office trends, alternative asset classes — with specific sessions on multifamily, single-family rental, and industrial real estate — and succession planning for intergenerational wealth transfer. 10. Jim Freed observes that younger generations in multi-generational families often turn to real estate to make their own mark because the original family wealth was typically built in a different sector. 11. Irv describes his favorite conference experience as meeting the investment manager of the family behind Panda Express, using it to illustrate that family offices are behind countless everyday businesses that attendees encounter without realizing it. 12. Todd Rosenberg, with IMN for over 20 years, handles audience development and ticketing; Stacy Kelly leads marketing; both are praised by Jim and Irv for making attendees feel welcome. 13. The conference is its 10th year in Miami; family offices and qualified investors may qualify for complimentary registration; general tickets and sponsor packages are available at imn.org. 14. Jim Freed notes that Sandstone Realty Advisors, his firm, was recently ranked the 33rd largest commercial real estate firm in South Florida by volume. 15. The episode closes with Warren Henry Automotive ad content noting that the Zinn family — Dave Zinn, Warren Zinn, and Larry Zinn — represents three generations in the auto business, tying the episode's family office theme to the sponsor. 16. Jim Freed mentions a deal closing call he received while sitting at Warren Henry getting a car serviced, illustrating the degree to which the show's sponsor community and deal flow are personally intertwined. 17. The episode's tone is conversational and promotional, structured around a conference preview rather than analytical deep dives on family office strategy. 18. Both host and guest speak in an accessible register; jargon like SFO, MFO, and succession planning is defined rather than assumed, making the conversation approachable for newcomers. 19. Real estate professionals, business owners, and high-net-worth individuals who want to understand the family office ecosystem and are considering attending or connecting with IMN events. 20. Listeners who want in-depth analysis of specific family office investment strategies or deal structures rather than a conference preview and introductory overview.

As heard by us

A blunt Miami family-office conversation that turns jargon into working deal logic.

Jim Freed frames family offices as a working capital source rather than a slogan, and that makes the discussion feel grounded. Irv Adu-Gyamfi helps untangle the structure question, especially the split between single-family and multi-family offices, while the strongest parts…

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You want the family-office playbook Miami dealmakers actually use.

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