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Pension consultants say that U.S. corporate pensions are at the highest funded level since the financial crisis, which could lead more companies to turn over to insurers the responsibility for paying retirees, the Wall Street Journal reported. Higher funding levels mean corporate sponsors get a better deal when transferring retiree obligations to insurers, so many firms are finding this to be the perfect time to transfer the risks associated with carrying pension plans. Defined-benefit pension plans of S&P 500 companies were in aggregate 91 percent funded at the end of September, according to research released Monday by Goldman Sachs Asset Management. That is the highest level since the end of 2007, when these plans were 108 percent funded, according to the report. Nearly one-quarter of the plans are now either fully funded or overfunded, the report said.

Westmoreland Coal Co. and lenders wanting to take over the bankrupt mining company are seeking concessions from retirees and union workers as it looks to shed debt in chapter 11, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The mining company filed for bankruptcy protection on Tuesday with a plan to sell its mining business to a group of creditors holding a majority of its roughly $1.4 billion debt. The plan requires that Westmoreland obtain modifications to benefits for some of its retirees and existing labor pacts with the unions that represent hundreds of its miners. Following the lead of fellow mining companies including Patriot Coal Corp. and Alpha Natural Resources Inc., Westmoreland said that it may ask a bankruptcy judge to modify retiree benefits and reject existing collective bargaining agreements if representatives for its employees don’t agree to changes by Nov. 8. Any request to reject the labor agreements or modify benefits must be approved by a judge.

Private equity firms and public pension funds have long had a symbiotic relationship: The funds supply the firms with billions of dollars to invest, and the firms deliver double-digit returns that help the funds support retired public servants. Now, pension leaders are showing a new willingness to confront private equity over the human impact of its investments, the New York Times reported. Minnesota’s pension plan temporarily halted investments in one of Toys “R” Us’s former private equity owners, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, after hearing that 30,000 workers laid off amid the retailer’s bankruptcy had been denied severance. A top Oregon pension official criticized the private equity firm TPG for what he said was its serious lack of diversity, specifically citing a disparaging remark that one of the firm’s founders had made about women. And New Jersey’s pension fund moved recently to ensure that private equity firms with mortgage investments in Puerto Rico were not foreclosing on residents of the island after the havoc caused by Hurricane Maria.

The private-equity owners of Toys “R” Us Inc. are putting together a $20 million fund to make payments to thousands of former employees left jobless by the retailer’s liquidation, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The two private-equity firms have brought on a third party to help structure the fund and iron out the eligibility requirements. It is unknown what the median payout will be, and the fund will be open to outside contributions. Bain, KKR and real estate investment trust Vornado Realty Trust took Toys “R” Us private in 2005 in a $6.6 billion deal that included $5.3 billion in debt. When Toys “R” Us sought bankruptcy protection last year, much of its debt stemmed from the buyout. Although the retailer had hoped to survive bankruptcy, it said in March that it was shutting down, a move that resulted in the closure of more than 800 U.S. stores and the loss of 33,000 jobs.