With more than four decades of risk management experience from the client side, Jose M. Pienknagura added unique layers of value to the Gallagher team. Prior to joining Gallagher in 2019, he served as an executive officer, general counsel, bond executive and risk manager for a U.S. National contactor that merged with an international engineering and construction firm. He oversaw the legal, risk management and bond activities for a wide variety of significant projects; including hospitals, professional sports stadiums, arenas, airports, Residences, hotels, industrial and automobile facilities, casinos, clean rooms, public private partnership projects and multiple jail facilities. He negotiated and placed insurance coverage on both enterprise and project-specific accounts for over $15 billion worth of construction, using multiple project delivery methods including Design-Build, Construction Manager-at-Risk and Integrated Project Delivery.Pienknagura has managed both insurance and bonds claims for jobsite catastrophes, construction and design defects and subcontractor defaults. He has successfully overseen and managed OCIP, CCIP and Co-CIP insurance programs. He attained for AECOM/Hunt $15 billion in Bonding Capacity prior to joining Gallagher.
A native of Ecuador, Mr. Pienknagura emigrated to the United States to attend Indiana University, where he earned his Bachelor’s, Master’s and Law Degrees and is licensed to practice law before the United States Supreme Court. Though Pienknagura has become a U.S. Citizen, he has retained his ties to South America, Mexico and Central America. He has negotiated deals in Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Central America, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, and Colombia. While at AECOM, Mr. Pienknagura negotiated a contract to construct a soccer stadiums in Mexico and in Italy. As lead counsel for AECOM’s Industrial Manufacturing unit, he was responsible for contracts with multiple automobile motor companies like Ford, BMW, and GM, Faraday and many others. During his tenure Mr Pienknagura negotiated serious labour issues with Mexican Labor Unions related to the automobile plants under construction and continues to maintain contacts with the union leadership. He has also worked on large projects in Europe and the Middle East. He is fluent in Spanish and English and has a working knowledge of Portuguese. He has served as a frequent guest speaker and writer for the ABA, IRMI, AGC, Construction Super Conference and multiple other forums on various construction and risk management topics. He is a founding member The Hartford’s Advisory Board, an invitation-only group of industry professionals organized to advise The Hartford on construction insurance issues, such as gaps in coverage and policy form language. He is a founding member of the AIG Construction Board and while at Aecom, was a member of the Berkshire Hathaway Construction Board. Pienknagura has published multiple construction papers and materials both for internal and client-facing use.
Having worked directly with multiple insurance and bonding carriers over his long career, Mr. Pienknagura has established deep relationships with their underwriting and claims management divisions. Agents draw on Mr. Pienknagura’ s expertise to provide them with an insider’s perspective on the risks faced by contractors doing business throughout the hemisphere. His industry knowledge helps your agent know the right questions to ask to better understand their business and their risk profile.
Mr. Pienknagura is now CEO of Pienknagura Worldwide Construction and Insurance Consulting and Mediation after retiring from AJG May 31, 2025.